THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

PRESENTED  BY 

PROF. CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


AN  AMERICAN 


THE    OEIENTALS. 


AN  AMERICAN 


THE   ORIENTALS: 


INCLUDING  AN 


AUDIENCE  WITH  THE  SULTAN, 


AND  A  VISIT  TO  THE 


INTERIOR  OF  A  TURKISH  HAREM. 


BY 


JAMES  E.  P.  BOULDEN,   M.D. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

LINDSAY   &   BLAKISTON. 

1855. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1855, 
BY    LINDSAY    &    BLAKISTON, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of 
Pennsylvania. 


C.   SUEUMAN    &    SON,    1'KIMERS. 


'  \    / 


PREFACE. 


THE  novel  characteristics  of  the  Turks ;  their  singu 
lar  observances  and  beliefs ;  and  the  attitude  in  which 
they  now  stand  before  the  world,  owing  to  the  com 
plicated  condition  of  the  Russo-Greek  question,  invol 
ving,  as  it  has,  in  a  bloody  struggle,  not  only  Turkey 
and  Russia,  but  the  great  Western  powers  of  Europe, 
render  authentic  accounts  of  their  manners  and  cus 
toms  peculiarly  interesting.  A  simple,  unadorned, 
but  truthful  narration  of  what  came  under. the  author's 
observation  during  a  few  months'  sojourn  at  Constanti 
nople,  is  all  that  he  has  aimed  at  in  the  unpretending 
volume  now  modestly  submitted  to  the  public. 

BALTIMORE,  April  30,  1855. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Outward  Bound — Triumph  of  Steam — Yankee  go-a-headiveness — 
Fairly  off— Glowing  Fancies  versus  Sea-sickness — Recovery — Lu 
dicrous  Effects  of  the  Ship's  Motion, 25 


CHAPTER    II. 

Meditative  Pleasures  of  Ocean  Life — Resources  to  Kill  Time  on 
board — The  Auctioneer — Betting  on  the  Ship's  Speed — The 
Sailor  Relieved, .30 


CHAPTER   III. 

The  Smoking-Room — Ladies'  Saloon — A  Home  Picture — Sunday  on 
the  Ocean— Divine  Service — Bishop  Wainwright — Character  and 
Manners  of  the  Passengers, 35 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Nearing  Land — Anxiety  increases  to  reach  it — "Fastinet  Light" — 
Coast  of  Ireland — St.  George's  Channel — The  Last  Dinner — Wine 
and  Speeches — A  Golden  Sunset — Arrive  at  Liverpool.  .  40 

CHAPTER   V. 

Western  Europe  —  The  Orient  —  Embark  on  board  an  Austrian 
Steamer — Politeness  of  the  Captain — His  friendliness  towards 
America — Approach  the  "  City  of  the  Sultan" — Accident — Ineffa 
ble  Beauty — Constantinople — Seraglio  Point — The  Golden  Horn 
— Amphitheatre  of  Beauty, 44 

CHAPTER    VI. 

At  Anchor — Sleeping  on  Deck — A  Confused  Scene — A  Modern 
Babel — Pera — Conflagrations — Means  of  extinguishing  them — 
Turkish  versus  American  Firemen — A  Singular  Mode  of  showing 
the  Dissatisfaction  of  the  Peoplo. 49 

CHAPTER  VII. 

A  Ride  through  Constantinople  on  Horseback — People  of  all 
Nations  and  Costumes — Turks,  Greeks,  Jews,  Moors,  Arabs,  Per 
sians,  &c. — Turkish  and  Armenian  Women — The  Perigee  and 
Yashmak — Hamals,  Donkeys,  and  Horses — Dogs  of  Constantinople 
and  Pern — Their  Peculiarities,  ,  54 


CONTENTS.  XVll 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Ramazan — Its  Rigid  Observance — Evening  Scenes  and  Enjoyments 
—Cafes— The  Turk's  Fondness  for  the  Pipe— The  Oriental's  In 
clination  to  Seek  for  Enjoyment  amid  the  Abodes  of  the  Dead — 
Separation  of  the  Sexes — The  Harem — The  Salamnik — Luxu 
rious  Enjoyments  of  the  Females, 60 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Wives  and  Slaves — Number  of  former  allowed  by  the  Koran — 
Reason  why  Turks  generally  have  but  one  Wife — 'Turkish  Wife's 
Extravagance — Valleys  of  the  "  Sweet  Waters  of  Europe  and  of 
Asia"  —  Picturesque  Scenes — Ox  Arabas  —  Female  costume — 
Arabian  Jugglers — Amusements  of  the  Men — Dashing  Steeds,  6G 


CHAPTER   X. 

An  Audience  with  Sultan  Abdul  Medjid — Rowed  by  American 
Sailors — The  Bosphorus — Boat  of  the  American  Legation — Emo 
tions  on  beholding  the  Flag  of  our  Native  Land — Reach  the  Sul 
tan's  Palace — Reception-Room — Our  Appearance — Pipe-Bearers 
— Mode  of  Presenting  the  Pipe — Magnificent  Amber  and  Jewelled 
Mouth-pieces — Their  Abundance — Turkish  Tobacco — Former 
Smoking  Customs — Sarfs — Coffee — Enter  the  Palace — An  Exhibi 
tion  of  our  Veneration  for  the  "  Shadow  of  God  on  Earth" — The 

Sultan's  "  Pages," 70 

2 


XV111  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XL 

Audience  with  the  Sultan,  continued — Enter  the  Sultan's  Apartment 
Turkish  Salutation — Mr.  Marsh's  Speech — The  Sultan's  Reply — 
Description  of  the  Sultan's  Person — His  Dress — Profusion  of 
Diamonds — Inverted  feet  and  their  Cause — Abdul  Medjid  as 
compared  with  Mahmoud  the  Second — Energy  of  the  Latter — 
His  Reforms — Benevolence  of  the  present  Sultan — His  Liberal 
Policy  towards  Christians — His  want  of  Energy — Stagnation  of 
the  Empire — Its  Cause — Unequal  ness  of  Taxation — Presentation 
of  Mr.  Brown — Backing-out  Ceremonies,  .  .  .  .77 

CHAPTER    XII. 

Visit  to  the  Harem  of  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs — The  Ef- 
fendi's  Palace — Cavasses — Astonishing  Number  of  Attendants — 
European  Innovations — A  Beautiful  Eastern  Picture — Coffee, 
Sherbet,  and  Pipes — A  Point  of  Etiquette — Turkish  Vanity — Rose 
Leaf  Preserves — The  Conservatory — A  Little  Eden — Bubbling 
Water,  Flowers,  Birds,  and  Sunshine — Sudden  Appearance  of  a 
Eunuch — Accompanying  Him  into  the  Precincts  of  the  Harem,  84 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

Follow  the  Eunuch  into  the  apartments  of  the  Harem — Accompa 
nied  by  Circassian  slaves,  ascend  to  Madame  Fuad's  Chamber — 
Luxurious  Repose — Salutation — Madame  Fuad's  Manner  and 


CONTENTS.  XIX 

Occupations — Her  Interest  in  her  Slaves — Their  Accomplish 
ments — Turkish  Female  Dress — Unlike  the  "  Bloomer" — Content 
ment  of  the  Slaves — Female  Slavery  in  the  East  a  luxurious 
Captivity — Desire  of  the  Young  Circassian  Girls  to  be  sold  into 
Slavery — Madame  Fuad's  Inquiries  concerning  Matrimonial  Cus 
toms  in  our  Country — Latticed  Windows — Part  with  Her  Lady 
ship — Serving  of  Refreshments — The  Ladies  return  to  the 
Salamnik — The  Black  Eunuch,  the  Guardian  Spirit  of  the  Harem 
— Fuad  Effendi — His  Intelligence  and  Reformatory  Sentiments — 
His  Garden — Miniature  Lake — Swiss  Cottage — Birds,  Statues, 
&c. — Departure, 91 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  European  Passport  System — Its  Annoyances — Unsuspicious- 
ness  of  the  Turks — The  Sultan's  Firman — A  Translation  of  it, 
showing  the  Peculiar  Style  of  Oriental  Verbiage — Travelling  in 
Turkey — Use  Horses  and  Mules — The  Camel — Transportation  of 
Merchandize — Picturesque  Effect  of  a  Caravan  of  Camels — Mag 
nificent  Steeds — Scarcity  of  the  Full-blooded  Arab — A  Ride  to 
the  Village  of  Belgrade — A  Beautiful  and  Diversified  Scene — 
Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montague — Grand  Aqueduct  of  Justinian — 
The  Valley  of  Buyucdere  —  Godfrey  de  Bouillon  —  Return  to 
Therapia, 98 

CHAPTER   XV. 

Mahomet's  Injunctions  as  to  Cleanliness — Ample  Provision   for  a 
Supply  of  the  Aqueous  Element — Magnificent  Baths,  Fountains 


XX  CONTENTS. 

Aqueducts,  &c.— Bends  of  Belgrade — Doing  in  Turkey  as  the 
Turkeys  do — Go  through  the  Ordeal  of  a  Turkish  Bath — The 
Preparation  Room — Change  of  Dress — Turkish  Towels — Wooden 
Clogs — Enter  a  Room  of  Higher  Temperature — After  Preparation 
of  the  System  enter  a  still  hotter  Room — Primitive  Costume — 
The  Operator — His  Manipulating  and  Kneading  Process — Sore 
Effects, 107 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

Bath  continued — "  A  Used-up  Man " — A  Delicious  State  of  Sus 
pense — Not  Quite  Washed  Away — Rough  Scrubbing — Skinned 
Alive — Hold! — Enough! — "Macaroni" — A  Coat  of  Lather — Al 
most  Suffocated — The  Bath  Finished — Mummy  Costume — Siesta — 
Remedial  Advantages — Obesity  of  the  Turks — Number  of  Bathing 
Establishments — Fountains — Expressive  Inscriptions — Bounty  of 
the  Mahomedan  Sultans — Propitiating  the  Prophet  and  Pur 
chasing  the  Joys  of  Paradise,  112 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

Religious  Devotion  of  the  Turks — Unjust  Condemnation  of  Them — 
Prayer  and  Charity — The  Koran — Example  for  Christians — 
Turkish  Superstition— The  "  Evil  Eye"— Charms— The  Giant's 
Grave — Fatalism  of  the  Turks — Apathy — Recklessness  in  Battle — 
Assurances  of  Happiness, 117 


CONTENTS.  XXI 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Singular  Beliefs — Hurried  Burials — Funeral  Practices — The  "Ques 
tioning  Angel" — The  Soul  Drawn  out  through  the  Mouth — The 
Mahomedan's  Heaven  —  Celestial  Houris  —  The  Unbeliever's 
Heaven — Prejudices  against  Christians — Religious  Liberty — The 
Turk's  Attachment  to  his  Religion — Rarity  of  his  Conversion  to 
Christianity — American  Missionaries  at  Constantinople,  .  123 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

The  Mahomedan  Sabbath — Separation  of  the  Sexes  in  the  Mosques 
— Peculiar  Mode  of  Worship — Requirements  to  gain  Admittance 
into  the  Mosques — How  obtained — Bayard  Taylor  and  his  friend 
Harrison — Harrison  having  succeeded  in  visiting  Mecca  in  the 
guise  of  a  Turk,  attempts  to  enter  a  Mosque  in  the  same  Costume 
— Is  detected — Beats  a  Retreat — Mosque  of  St.  Sophia — A  sacred 
Repository  of  Valuables, 127 

CHAPTER   XX. 

The  Sultan  Going  to  and  Returning  from  Mosque — Brilliant  Pro 
cession — The  Royal  Barge — A  Moslem  Summons  to  Worship — 
The  Howling  Dervishes  of  Scutari — Their  Thrilling  Ceremonies 
— Wild  Fanaticism — Torturing  Instruments — Closing  Scenes — 
The  Whirling  Dervishes  of  Pera — Exclusion  of  the  Females — 
Learned  Patriarchs,  133 


XX11  C  0  N  T  E  N  T  S. 


CHAPTER    XXL 

Turkish  Cemeteries — Their  Vastness — Cemetery  of  Scutari — Cy 
press  Trees — Turbaned  Stones — Mingled  Scene — Carvings  and 
Inscriptions — Eyoub — Character  of  the  Epitaphs — Examples — 
Woman's  Soul, 138 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

"  Down  Among  the  Dead  Men" — Female  Resorts — Tombstones  of 
the  Females — Of  the  Janissaries — Separate  Burying  Grounds — 
Characteristics  of  the  Turkish,  Armenian,  Jewish,  &c.,  Cemeteries — 
Disinclination  of  the  Turk  to  be  Buried  in  European  Soil — His 
Belief  as  to  the  Ultimate  Fate  of  European  Turkey — Consolation 
at  the  Close  of  his  Mortal  Career — Mausoleum  of  Mahmoud  II., 

143 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  Ramazan,  or  Holy  Month — Rigid  Observances — Religious  Fa 
naticism — Ancient  Prejudices  dying  out — Changes  for  the  better 
— Their  causes — A  Confused  Scene — Afloat — Large  Number  of 
Caiques — The  Oblivious  Turk — Female  Curiosity — The  Bazaar 
Boat — A  Polyglot  Scene — The  Great  Variety  of  Languages 
Spoken  in  the  Orient — Illumination  in  Honor  of  the  Descent  of  the 
Koran — Brilliant  Scene  at  Tophane — Constantinople  Illumined  by 
Olive-Oil-Fed  Lamps — The  Ships  in  the  Golden  Horn  lit  up,  147 


CONTEJsTS.  XX111 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

Turkish  Soldiery — Grand  Pyrotechnic  Display — Firing  of  Cannon — 
A  Calm— The  Royal  Barge— Sultan  Abdul  Medjid— He  Prays— 
Effulgent  Display— Annual  Presentation  of  a  new  Wife  to  the 
Sultan — Self-denial  of  his  Highness — Return  to  Shore — Ascend 
the  Heights  of  Pera — The  Turkish  Guard,  Mustapha — A  dense 
and  heterogeneous  Throng — Its  Turbulent  Elements — Dangerous 
Proximity — One  of  our  Female  Companions  alarmed — Summary 
mode  of  Stealing  a  Watch — An  exciting  Struggle — Arrive  safely 
at  Home, 155 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  Bairam — The  Sultan  Saluted  by  His  Wives,  and  Compli 
mented  by  the  Dignitaries  of  the  Land — A  Brilliant  Procession — 
Beautiful  Picture — The  Corban  Bairam — Great  Killing  of  Sheep, 

162 

CHAPTER    XXVI. 

TURKISH   WEDDING. 

Marriage  negotiated  by  Female  Relatives — The  "  Fair  One  "  sought 
out  by  them — The  Baths  frequently  Visited — Courting  by  Proxy 
— Falling  in  Love  without  seeing  the  Object  loved— Handsome 
Presents  to  the  Expected  Bride — A  mode  of  Popping  the  Ques 
tion  Expensive  but  Convenient  to  Modest  Suitors — Assembling  of 


XXIV  CONTENTS. 

Friends — The  Lady  escorted  to  the  Bridegroom's  House — Festivi 
ties — Tying  of  the  Nuptial  Knot — The  Bride  and  Bridegroom  un 
seen  by  each  other  before  Marriage — Coquetting  in  the  Bridal 
Chamber, 165 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

The  Eastern  War — Its  Cause — American  Sympathies — Actuating 
Motives  of  the  Three  Great  Powers — Our  Policy — Effects  of  the 
War  upon  Turkish  Manners  and  Customs,  .  .  .170 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

HOMEWARD    BOUND. 

Leave  Constantinople — Malta— Sicily — A  Gale  between  Scylla  and 
Charybdis — Pompeii — Rome — Its  Antiquities — Driven  into  Elba 
by  a  Storm — Florence — Genoa — Return  to  Paris — Our  Route — 
Home  Again — Conclusion, 


AN  AMERICAN  AMONG  THE 
ORIENTALS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Outward  Bound — Triumph  of  Steam — Yankee  go-a-headiveness — 
Fairly  off — Glowing  Fancies  versus  Sea-sickness — Recovery — Lu 
dicrous  Effects  of  the  Ship's  Motion. 

WE  live  in  a  steam-propelling  age.  The  waters  of 
every  sea  and  river,  from  whose  margins  barbaric 
darkness  has  vanished  before  the  glorious  light  of 
human  progress  and  civilization,  are  furrowed  by  the 
revolving  wheel  of  the  steam-driven  vessel.  Old  ocean 
is  crossed  in  a  trice,  and  the  voyager  who,  ten  days 
previously,  was  threading  Broadway  and  admiring 
the  expanding  greatness  of  our  metropolitan  city,  is 
now  gazing  from  the  dome  of  St.  Paul's  upon  Lon 
don's  world  of  brick,  tile,  and  humanity.  As  in  the 
accomplishment  of  almost  every  other  object,  so  in 

3 


26  TRIUMPH    OF    STEAM. 

the  achievements  and  accompaniments  of  steam  does 
Yankee  go-a-headiveness  carry  off  the  palm  from  all 
competitors ;  and  as  no  other  nation  can  compare 
with  us  in  regard  to  the  number,  vastness,  comfort, 
magnificence,  and  speed  of  our  noble  floating  palaces 
that  ply  the  Hudson,  the  Ohio,  the  Mississippi,  or 
push  boldly  out  to  the  most  distant  seas,  neither  does 
any  other  people  by  the  aid  of  said  agents  hurry  into 
eternity  so  fast  as  we.  Is  it  that  we  are  such  a  de 
cidedly  fast  nation  that,  not  content  with  the  ordinary 
rapid  progression  that  forms  a  daily  characteristic  of 
our  American  life,  we  must  have  some  speedy,  high- 
pressure  mode  of  exit  from  existence,  the  natural  pro 
cess  of  life's  ebbing  to  a  close  being  too  slow  and  tame 
for  us  ? 

Seriously  speaking,  however,  let  us  trust  that  ere 
long  the  rapid  transits  from  one  section  to  another  of 
our  extensive  country  will  be  attended  by  more  com 
plete  guarantees  of  safety  than  at  present  ;  that  legis 
lative  interference  will  check  that  unpardonable  care 
lessness  that  has  recently  caused  so  many  calamitous 
results.  But  it  is  not  upon  the  high  seas,  as  it  is 
upon  our  inland  waters,  that,  in  an  American  steamer, 
we  need  feel  any  peculiar  apprehension  of  suddenly 
soaring  aloft,  becoming  charred,  or  meeting  with  a 


FAIRLY    OFF.  27 

watery  grave  ;  and  with  the  comfortable  assurance  of 
safety  and  almost  certainly  that  in  less  than  a  fort 
night  we  will  be  mingling  in  Old  World  scenes,  let  us, 
during  the  pleasant  month  of  May,  step  on  board  the 
Baltic  on  the  eve  of  her  departure  across  the  North 
Atlantic. 

The  last  earnest  grasp  of  the  hands  and  the  fond 
pressure  of  parting  friends  are  over.  The  booming 
cannon  and  the  plaudits  of  the  assembled  multitude 
announce  that  we  are  fairly  off,  and  ere  the  lapse  of 
but  a  few  hours  Castle  Garden,  Governor's,  and 
Staten  Islands,  are  between  us  and  our  place  of 
embarkation.  Before  night  has  enveloped  us  in  its 
dark  shades  we  are  probably  careering  over  At 
lantic's  waves,  and  the  receding  shores  of  America 
have  vanished  behind  the  swelling  waters.  Now, 
having  bid  our  native  land  "good  night,"  and  expe 
rienced  that  feeling  of  isolation  that  comes  over  one 
who,  for  the  first  time,  is  at  sea,  we  retire  to  our 
berth  to  indulge  in  bright  fancies  of  Europe's  splen 
dors  or  dream  of  "the  friends  we  left  behind  us." 
Yain  hope !  Happy  dreams  and  glowing  fancies 
bless  us  not,  but  in  lieu  of  them,  prostrating  every 
mental  and  physical  energy,  are  all  the  nauseating 
effects  of  the  ship's  unsteady  motion.  A  sleepless, 


28  SEA-SICKNESS. 

restless  night  is  passed.  The  morning  dawns,  yet 
brings  us  not  relief.  What  would  we  not  give,  if  we 
could  only  stay  that  horrid  motion,  and  indulge  in 
the  briefest  quietude  !  Food,  that  on  land  would  be 
delicious,  is  indignantly  rejected.  At  length,  tired 
of  confinement  in  a  narrow  berth,  we  venture  upon 
deck ;  but,  no  sooner  have  we  attained  the  ship's 
side  and  looked  out  upon  the  bright  expanse  of 
waters,  than  a  sickly,  deadly  feeling,  created  by 
those  majestic  waves,  other  ivise  so  much  admired, 
comes  upon  us ;  a  feeling  that  no  pen  can  describe, 
horrible  to  the  last  degree.  Our  head  aches  vio 
lently  ;  our  stomach,  with  all  its  contents,  and  these 
lend  a  bitter  taste  indeed  to  the  tongue,  appears  to 
be  crowding  up  into  our  throat  and  seeking  an  exit, 
which  every  motion  of  the  vessel  creates  in  us  a 
longing  desire  to  afford  it,  but  without  avail.  We 
reel,  the  ship's  unsteady  motion  unbalances  us ;  we 
totter  against  and  seize  hold  of  any  object  that 
happens  to  be  nearest ;  wish  we  had  never  been  so 
foolish  as  to  leave  the  firm  earth,  vow  we  never  will 
again ;  look  for  sympathy  in  the  face  of  some  fellow- 
passenger,  but  find  it  not,  for  perchance  he  is  in  the 
same  plight  as  ourselves ;  are  about  to  give  up  in 
despair,  and  abandon  ourselves  to  our  sad  fate,  when 


EFFECTS    OF    THE    SHIP'S    MOTION.         29 

one  tremendous,  but  friendly  lurch,  produces  a  feel 
ing  that  cannot  be  resisted,  and  with  one  mighty 
heave  we  dislodge  our  bilious  accumulations,  and  our 
New  York  dinner  of  the  previous  day,  together  into 
the  gulping  waves,  and  thus  find  temporary  relief. 

Now,  for  the  first  time,  we  begin  to  take  an  inte 
rest  in  what  is  transpiring  around  us.  We  actually, 
though  suffering  so  much  a  short  time  before,  find 
ourselves  amused  by  the  queer  antics  which  that 
motion,  which  made  us  sick,  causes  the  passengers  to 
perform.  One  man,  thrown  off  his  dignity  and  his 
feet  simultaneously,  suddenly  discovers  himself  (for  a 
very  brief  time,  however)  in  a  lady's  lap ;  a  couple 
promenading  the  deck  are  jostled  violently  and  unce 
remoniously  together,  at  the  expense  of  each  other's 
ribs.  A  walk  is  suddenly  accelerated  by  the  ship's 
descending  motion,  or  retarded  by  its  uprising.  At 
the  table,  wine  intended  for  the  lips  is  precipitated 
over  the  breast,  ingloriously  marring  that  splendid 
sentiment,  that  we  were  about  to  put  forth,  when 
proposing  the  health  of  the  ladies  near  us. 


CHAPTER    II. 

Meditative  Pleasures  of  Ocean  Life — Resources  to  Kill  Time  on 
board — The  Auctioneer — Betting  on  the  Ship's  Speed — The 
Sailor  Relieved. 

GRADUALLY,  as  time  flies  and  the  ship  speeds  on, 
we  become  accustomed  to  its  every  motion.  We 
have  at  length  thoroughly  recovered  from  our  sea 
sickness.  Now  we  feel  like  new  beings ;  there  is  a 
sensation  of  buoyancy,  of  elasticity  about  us  that  we 
never  felt  before ;  we  actually  rejoice  that  we  have 
been  sick,  so  charming  is  the  recovery  from  it. 

Now  that  we  have  experienced  all  the  disagreea- 
bilities,  we  can  the  more  keenly  relish  the  pleasures 
of  an  ocean  life.  These  are  afforded  those  who  love 
to  gaze  upon  the  grand  and  beautiful  in  nature,  to 
view  the  rolling  billows  chasing  and  o'erleaping  each 
other  to  the  horizon's  verge,  now  sparkling  with  the 
sun's  noontide  effulgence,  or  anon  lit  up  by  his  more 
subdued  rays  when  sinking  in  the  western  sky ;  or 


MEDITATIVE     PLEASURES.  31 

that  more  lovely  scene  afforded  by  the  clear  tranquil 
firmament  at  night — 

"Where,  one  by  one,  the  living  eyes  of  Heaven  arise, 
Quick  kindling  o'er  the  face  of  ether 
One  boundless  blaze ;" 

and  night's  bright  queen  sheds  down  her  softest  light 
upon  the  glittering  waves. 

It  is  now,  too,  we  are  filled  with  "meditation 
deep."  As  we  look  upon  the  mighty  expanse  of 
•water,  sublime  in  its  vastness,  its  profundity,  and 
the  eternal  agitation  of  its  bosom,  we  fully  realize  the 
wondrous  power  of  the  Great  Creator  of  the  elements 
and  our  own  insignificance;  the  conviction  comes 
home  to  us  that  we  are  in  the  hands  of  One  who  could 
speedily  ride  in  tempest  over  the  sea,  and  sink  us 
within  its  lowermost  depths. 

Growing  less  serious  in  our  contemplations,  we 
dwell  upon  that  partial  mastery  over  the  elements 
which  the  genius  of  man  has  achieved,  that  enables  us 
to  traverse  mighty  seas,  to  visit  distant  continents 
and  the  farthest  islands,  whilst  yet  surrounded  by  the 
comforts  and  luxuries  of  home ;  upon  the  motive 
power  of  steam,  that  has  converted  the  Atlantic  into 
a  moderate  sized  lake,  and  brought  the  eastern  and 


32  RESOURCES    TO    KILL    TIME. 

western  hemispheres  -within  ten  days  of  each  other ; 
and  a  proud,  a  happy  feeling  pervades  our  breasts 
when  we  remember  that  our  own  country  is  inferior 
to  no  other  in  accomplishing  these  grand  results. 

But  let  us  turn  from  the  meditative  to  the  practical 
resources  adopted  on  board  to  make  the  time  pass 
away  agreeably. 

"  Going,  going,  gone  !"  What's  that  ?  It  is  not 
possible  an  auctioneer  is  on  board  disposing  of  his 
wares  ?  No,  not  exactly  disposing  of  merchandize, 
but  there  he  is,  surrounded  by  half  the  passengers,  a 
regular  New  York  auctioneer,  well  acquainted  with 
the  arts  of  his  profession,  urging  upon  the  bystanders 
the  value  of  a  number.  Humor  plays  upon  his  coun 
tenance,  wit  shines  in  all  his  sayings.  With  many  a 
droll  expression  and  whimsical  remark  he  keeps  his 
audience  in  a  roar  of  laughter.  Even  grave  D.D.'s 
and  ladies,  too,  participate  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
scene.  But  what  is  he  selling  ?  I  hear  you  ask. 
Let  us  explain.  The  ship  makes  every  twenty-four 
hours  a  number  of  miles,  somewhere  between  250  and 
320  ;  this  distance  is  ascertained  every  day  at  twelve 
o'clock.  During  the  morning  the  auction  takes 
place,  each  bidder  having  had  an  opportunity  of 
judging  what  distance  the  ship  ought  to  have  made 


RESOURCES    TO     KILL    TIME.  33 

since  twelve  o'clock  of  the  previous  day.  So  the  dif 
ferent  numbers,  ranging  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest,  are  sold,  and  that  gentleman  purchasing  the 
number  corresponding  with  the  ship's  speed  is  entitled 
to  the  pool.  The  sales  are  quite  exciting  and  the 
bids  spirited. 

The  auctioneer,  and  he  is  a  genuine  specimen,  full 
of  fun  and  frolic,  begins  by  offering  250.  He  insists 
that  that  is  the  winning  number.  Last  night  he  laid 
awake  for  several  hours  and.  heard  something  wrong 
about  the  machinery,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
ship  sailed  miserably  slow ;  so  he  contends  that  the 
holder  of  that  number  will  be  a  lucky  fellow.  After 
considerable  praising  and  puffing  it  is  knocked  off  to 
John  Smith  for  a  few  shillings.  Then  the  succeed 
ing  numbers,  each  strongly  recommended  as  the  one, 
are  disposed  of,  the  auctioneer  growing  more  and 
more  racy  and  eloquent  as  he  nears  the  ne  plus 
ultra.  Three  hundred  and  twenty  is  offered.  Here 
his  utmost  ingenuity  is  taxed.  "  Gentlemen,  it  is  the 
last  number,  the  last  chance,  what's  bid  ?"  "  One 
pound."  "  Paugh,  that's  a  trifle  for  such  a  number ; 
why  look  at  the  sails,  did  you  ever  see  canvass  filled 
with  so  fine  a  breeze  ?  And  look  at  those  wheels 
how  they  revolve,  and  tell  me  we  are  not  making 


34  THE    SAILOR    EELIEVED. 

fourteen  knots  an  hour.  I  saw  the  captain  about  an 
hour  since,  and  he  told  me  that  we  were  making  a 
capital  run ;  and  here,  gentlemen,  allow  me  to  cor 
rect  myself  about  being  awake  last  night.  I  was 
under  a  slight  mistake.  Since  this  sale  begun  I  have 
reasoned  the  matter  with  myself,  and  discover  that  it 
was  all  a  dream  about  our  going  slow.  The  engi 
neers  assure  me  that  the  machinery  worked  admirably ; 
so  bid  up  briskly  for  320 ;  it  is  the  number,  and  no 
mistake."  At  length,  in  the  midst  of  wit  and  merri 
ment,  it  is  sold.  Thus  ends  the  auction  for  that 
day. 

These  sales,  at  first  glance,  appear  to  be  a  species  of 
gambling ;  but  when  we  are  acquainted  with  the  fact 
that  one-half  of  the  proceeds  goes  to  the  relief  of 
the  poor  sailor  we  are  not  apt  to  condemn  them. 


CHAPTER   III. 

The  Smoking-Room — Ladies'  Saloon — A  Home  Picture — Sunday  on 
the  Ocean — Divine  Service — Bishop  Wainvvright — Character  and 
Manners  of  the  Passengers. 

AFT  is  the  smoking-room.  At  all  hours,  but  espe 
cially  after  dinner,  when  the  number  is  increased,  are 
here  gathered,  engaged  in  conversation  or  lost  in  for- 
getfulness  amid  the  fumes  of  choice  Cuba  leaf,  those 
whose  stomachs  are  not  peculiarly  disposed  to  suc 
cumb  to  the  combined  influence  of  the  ship's  see-saw 
motion  and  the  dense  atmosphere  of  the  place. 

Below,  in  the  magnificently  furnished  ladies'  saloon, 
where,  but  for  the  jarring  motion  of  machinery  and 
an  occasional  lurch  of  the  boat,  one  would  fancy  him 
self  in  one  of  the  most  splendidly  adorned  and  com 
fortably  arranged  drawing-rooms  of  America,  is  clus 
tered  an  agreeable  company  of  ladies  and  gentlemen 
around  a  piano,  listening  to  the  soft  strains  of  music ; 
a  young  lady  is  skilfully  touching  the  keys,  mingling 
with  their  harmony  her  own  clear  voice,  whose  dulcet 


36  SUNDAY    ON    THE    OCEAN. 

warblings,  seconded  by  a  gentleman's  strong  bass, 
form  a  strange  and  delightful  contrast  with  the  rush 
ing  element  without.  It  is  indeed  a  home  picture, 
that  group  around  the  singers  and  the  instrument ; 
those  four  indulging  in  a  social  game  of  whist ;  those 
damask  velvet  cushions  tempting  to  ease  and  indo 
lence  ;  those  mirrors,  large  and  costly,  reflecting 
every  object  in  the  room ;  those  domestics  hurrying 
here  and  there  with  the  most  delicious  fruits ;  the  in 
nocent  prattle  of  children  in  their  nurse's  laps  or 
tumbling  over  the  floor ;  and  that  friendly  social 
feeling  pervading  the  assembly. 

But  it  is  Sunday — Sunday  in  the  midst  of  the 
ocean  !  No  loud  and  prolonged  succession  of  church- 
bell  peals,  as  on  land,  in  a  Christian  country,  breaks 
upon  the  stillness  of  the  morn.  One  single  bell,  rung 
measuredly,  reminds  us  that  it  is  the  Sabbath  of  the 
Lord,  and  summons  us  to  His  worship ;  and  how 
solemn  and  impressive  is  Divine  service  out  on  that 
boundless  waste  of  waters !  There,  gathered  in  the 
aft  saloon,  and  with  attentive  ears  listening  to  the 
eloquent  pleadings  of  some  such  eminent  divine  as 
Dr.  Wainwright,  of  New  York,*  are  Christians  of  all 

*  This  gentleman,  then    a    delegate   to  the  World's  Convention, 


CHARACTER    AND    MANNERS.  37 

creeds,  forgetting  their  sectarian  prejudices,  kneeling 
down  to,  and  singing  the  praises  of  one  common  Re 
deemer,  and  acknowledging  His  omnipotence.  What 
place  more  meet  for  such  acknowledgment  ?  Under 
what  circumstances  could  we  feel  ourselves  more  pal 
pably  in  the  power  of  God,  or  so  readily  appreciate 
our  individual  worthlessness  and  insignificance  in 
contrast  with  His  glory  and  might  ? 

Having  noticed  some  of  the  most  prominent  events 
that  lend  an  interest  to  a  sea-voyage,  let  us  look 
about  us  and  see  what  variety  of  people,  character, 
and  manners  we  have  on  board. 

Here  is  a  real  Jonathan,  from  "away  down  East," 
who  saunters  about  in  truly  republican  style,  whistling 
some  such  air  as  "Hail  Columbia,"  and  "willing  to 
bet  any  amount "  that  America  is  ahead  of  "  all  crea 
tion"  in  any  thing  you  can  start;  there  is  a  warm 
blooded  Southerner  from  the  cotton  country,  on  his 
way  to  lands  where,  though  slavery  exist  not  in  form, 
yet  doth  it  in  principle.  Walking  hurriedly  up  and 
down  the  deck,  ready  for  a  "bolt"  upon  the  first 
sound  of  the  dinner  gong,  are  a  couple  of  young 
Englishmen,  who  have  been  making  a  tour  through 

was  a  fellow-passenger  of  the  writer,  on  board  the  Baltic,  in  May 
of  '52. 

4 


38  CHARACTER    AND    MANNERS. 

the  States,  and  are  now  returning,  after  a  year's 
absence  from  their  own  country,  with  many  a  pre 
conceived  notion  and  prejudice  in  reference  to  ours 
dispelled  by  observation ;  venerable  divines  are  there, 
visiting  the  old  as  ecclesiastic  representatives  of  the 
new  world;  book-writers  too  are  on  board,  taking 
notes,  with  the  view  some  day  of  edifying  the  world 
with  the  results  of  their  observation.  Here  and  there 
are  men  or  women  whose  feeble  motions  and  pallid 
countenances  convince  us  that  they  are  seeking,  in  the 
briny  air,  the  tumultuous  action  of  the  sea,  a  change 
of  scene,  &c.,  that  precious  boon,  good  health;  men 
whose  heads  are  covered  with  the  frosts  of  age  are 
now  for  the  first  time  venturing  over  the  great  deep ; 
middle-aged  and  youth,  the  latter  fresh  from  the 
trammels  of  collegiate  life  and  glowing  with  the  en 
thusiasm  of  travel ;  the  miss  not  yet  emerged  from 
her  teens,  ardent  and  romantic,  her  mind  filled  with 
bright  anticipations  of  those  lands  of  beauty  and  of 
song  that  have  long  impressed  themselves  upon  the 
dreams  of  her  youth,  and  upon  which,  ere  long,  she 
hopes  to  gaze  and  tread ;  the  diplomat,  after  a  brief 
visit  to  his  friends  in  America,  returning  to  his  honor 
able  post  at  a  foreign  court ;  merchants  on  their  way 
to  purchase  the  fabrics  of  Western  Europe,  which  a 


CHAEACTEK    AND    MANNERS.  39 

goodly  portion  of  our  fellow-citizens  deem  superior  to 
our  own,  not  always  because  they  have  a  firmer  texture 
or  more  perfect  finish,  but  oft,  I  ween,  on  account  of 
its  being  supposed  that  the  productions  of  a  foreign 
loom  must  necessarily  surpass  our  own;  gentlemen 
retired  from  the  busy  scenes  of  money-making  life, 
now  spending  their  time  and  their  means  for  the  re 
laxation,  entertainment,  and  information  afforded  by 
travel ;  people  speaking  various  languages,  the  loqua 
cious  Frenchman,  the  gesticulating  Spaniard,  the 
meerschaum-smoking,  beer-drinking  German,  and 
even  the  short-cropped  Russian,  are  all  there,  mingling 
in  social  harmony  like  one  large  family.  Whatever 
may  be  their  individual  tastes,  their  personal,  sec 
tional,  or  national  prejudices,  these  are  all  merged 
into  a  desire  to  please  and  to  be  pleased;  no  angry 
words  are  spoken,  no  unpleasant  scenes  are  witnessed  ; 
all  act  like  persons  moving  on  to  the  harmonious 
accomplishment  of  one  grand  purpose. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

Nearing  Land — Anxiety  increases  to  reach  it — "Fastinet  Light" — 
Coast  of  Ireland — St.  George's  Channel — The  Last  Dinner — Wine 
and  Speeches — A  Golden  Sunset — Arrive  at  Liverpool. 

AT  length  we  near  the  shores  of  Europe,  and  our 
breasts  heave  with  new  delight  that  our  voyage, 
pleasant  as  it  has  been,  is  about  to  terminate ;  that 
we  are  soon  once  more  to  set  our  foot  upon  something 
stable,  our  eyes  on  aught  else  beside  the  tossing  wave. 

We  think  not  so  much  of  land  when  out  but  a  few 
days ;  we  feel  that  a  certain  time  must  elapse  before 
we  can  reach  the  shore  for  which  we  are  destined, 
and  with  a  commendable  philosophy  divert  our  minds 
with  whatever  is  transpiring  around  us ;  but,  when 
conscious  that  the  land  toward  which  we  are  steering 
is  not  far  distant,  how  anxious  we  become,  how  we 
long  for  a  glance  of  it,  how  we  stretch  our  vision  and 
elevate  the  captain's^spy-glass  to  discern  the  first  faint 
outlines  on  the  distant  horizon  !  And  then  the  inter 
val  between  the  first  cheerful  glimpse  of,  and  our 


COAST    OF    IRELAND.  41 

arrival  at,  it,  appears  longer  than  any  day  we  have 
spent  on  the  Atlantic ;  the  shores  actually  appear  to 
retreat,  and  we  feel  as  if  we  never  will  reach  them. 
But  in  the  course  of  time  the  "Fastinet  Light,"  stand 
ing  out  in  majestic  relief  upon  an  isolated  rock,  the 
ocean  dashing  in  restless  breakers  around  it,  whilst  it 
stands  high  and  firm,  as  if  in  proud  defiance  of  the  ele 
ments,  is  passed.  Soon,  upon  the  verge  of  a  hill  four 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  high  water,  is  perceived 
Cape  Clear  lighthouse,  whilst  deep  valley  and  high 
hill  follow  each  other  in  quick  succession,  almost  every 
revolution  of  the  wheels  developing  new  objects  along 
the  rock-bound  coast  of  Ireland,  whose  general  aspect, 
though  dreary  else,  yet  gladdens  now  the  voyager 's 
weary  vision,  and  enables  him  to  perceive,  in  the  dis 
tant  hills  crowned  with  manor  residences  and  sur 
rounded  by  parks,  the  white-crested  waves  dashing 
against  the  rocky  shore,  the  Irish  craft  ploughing  the 
waves,  with  light  fleecy  clouds  hovering  over  all,  a 
beautiful  and  pleasant  picture. 

And  now  the  great  ocean  is  crossed.  We  are  in 
St.  George's  Channel,  and  with  bounding  hearts  view 
every  object  on  land  and  water  that  denotes  our  near 
approach  to  port.  We  go  below  and  partake  of  our 
last  dinner.  This  occasion,  we  find,  affords  a  fine 

4* 


42  A    GOLDEN     SUN  SET. 

opportunity  for  the  display  of  eloquence.  The  wine 
that  day  is  furnished  'by  the  captain.  The  noble 
qualities,  social  and  seaman-like,  of  that  gentleman, 
are  spoken  of  in  the  most  laudatory  terms ;  reference 
is  had  to  the  prosperous  voyage  that  is  about  to  ter 
minate,  to  the  intercommunication  existing  between 
the  two  enlightened  countries  of  England  and  Ame 
rica,  produced  mainly  through  the  medium  of  the  mag 
nificent  steamers  of  the  respective  countries ;  an  in 
tercourse  calculated  not  only  to  promote  their  interests 
and  prosperity,  but  to  produce  a  social  and  political 
advantageous  effect  on  countries  less  favored  with 
liberal  and  beneficent  institutions  ;  allusion  is  made  to 
the  great  harmony  existing  between  the  passengers 
during  the  whole  voyage,  &c. 

Everything  passes  off  very  agreeably  at  the  table, 
and  after  a  pretty  heavy  imbibition  of  champagne,  the 
passengers  all  once  more  assemble  upon  deck.  It  is 
their  last  evening  on  board ;  the  sunset  is  beautiful  in 
the  extreme  ;  the  golden  orb  goes  down  in  radiant 
splendor  behind  the  Irish  hills,  casting  a  halo  of  glory 
over  land  and  sea ;  soon  a  lovely  crescent  moon,  with 
bright  stars  for  her  companions,  lights  up  the  clear 
blue  vault  of  heaven.  That  night  we  are  rocked  to 
sleep  by  St.  George's  billows,  and  the  following  morn- 


ARRIVE    AT    LIVERPOOL.  43 

ing,  greeted  by  the  American  flags  in  the  Mersey,  ar 
rive  at  Liverpool. 

We  are  taken  to  shore  in  a  small  steamer,  into 
which  we  all  crowd,  the  gentlemen  standing.  Just  as 
we  are  moving  off,  we  give  three  hearty  cheers  for  the 
gallant  officers  and  noble  ship  that  have  brought  us 
so  safely  over  the  Atlantic ;  and  with  no  slight  feel 
ing  of  regret  do  we  part  with  either,  or  entertain  the 
thought  that  we  are  nearing  the  point  of  separation 
from  many  agreeable  acquaintances  whom  we  have 
met  on  board,  and  whom  perchance  we  may  never  see 
again.  In  a  few  minutes  we  effect  a  landing,  and  are 
soon  comfortably  accommodated  at  the  "  Adelphi," 
in  Liverpool. 


CHAPTER   V. 

Western  Europe  —  The  Orient  —  Embark  on  board  an  Austrian 
Steamer — Politeness  of  the  Captain — His  friendliness  towards 
America — Approach  the  "City  of  the  Sultan" — Accident— Ineffa 
ble  Beauty — Constantinople — Seraglio  Point — The  Golden  Horn 
— Amphitheatre  of  Beauty. 

WESTERN  EUROPE  is  so  thoroughly  described  by  the 
modern  tourist  that  we  deem  it  superfluous  to  tire 
the  patience  of  the  reader  by  dwelling  on  the  scenes 
we  witnessed  whilst  traversing  England,  France,  Italy, 
Switzerland,  &c.  The  quaint  old  cities,  and  the 
noble  and  venerable  palaces  and  cathedrals  of  the 
continent,  are  almost  as  familiar  to  the  general 
reader  as  if  he  had  wandered  through  their  historic 
streets,  gorgeous  apartments,  and  sacred  aisles. 

Supposing  that  you,  kind  reader,  are  as  anxious, 
as  were  we,  to  reach  that  portion  of  the  world,  the 
very  reference  to  which  stirs  up  romantic  and  poeti 
cal  emotions,  the  beauteous  Orient,  with  its  luxurious 
clime,  the  novel  and  picturesque  manners  and  cos- 


AN    AUSTRIAN    STEAMER.  45 

tumes  of  its  people,  its  fair  and  lovely  daughters,  &c., 
we  invite  you  to  embark  with  'us  at  Trieste,  in  an 
Austrian  steamer,  for  Constantinople. 

The  captain  of  the  "Asia"  was  extremly  polite  to 
us  during  the  whole  of  our  very  pleasant  voyage, 
from  Trieste  to  Constantinople;  which  rather  sur 
prised  us,  as  we  were  under  the  impression  that  from 
the  Austrians  we  would,  being  Americans,  of  that 
country  which  had  offered  so  safe  a  shelter  to  their 
most  dangerous  foe,  meet  with  nought  but  rudeness 
and  incivility. 

Captain  Poiret  made  frequent  mention  of  America, 
and  in  the  most  friendly  terms.  He  referred  to  the 
rapid  advancement  of  the  arts  and  sciences  in  our 
country,  spoke  of  the  American  inventive  genius,  of 
the  superiority  of  our  ships  and  steamers.  He  ap 
peared  to  honor  the  names  of  Washington,  Franklin, 
and  Fulton. 

Upon  my  telling  him  that  we  rather  went  ahead  of 
all  creation  in  the  way  of  steaming,  he  said,  "Yes, 
you  go  ahead  most  too  fast,  sometimes  the  boiler 
bursts,  you  go  up,  and  then, — adieu!"  He  had 
heard  something  about  certain  accidents  which  occa 
sionally  occur  on  our  Western  waters. 

As   a   general   thing,  the    captains  of  European 


46  ACCIDENT. 

steamers  are  very  cautious.  They  never  race,  and 
an  explosion  is  a  very  rare  event  with  them. 

As  we  sailed  over  the  placid  waters  of  the  Mar 
mora,  and  approached  the  "  City  of  the  Sultan,"  I 
was  all  impatience  to  see  that  famous  place,  that  had 
so  long  been  a  bright  and  beauteous  picture  in  my 
imagination.  Long  before  "old  Sol"  had  reddened 
the  east,  on  the  morn  that  we  anticipated  catching 
a  glimpse  of  the  distant  city,  I  hurried  on  deck,  ex 
pecting  to  see  its  manifold  beauties  unfolded  in  all 
their  glory ;  but  alas !  for  the  fallacy  of  human  hopes, 
I  was  doomed  to  disappointment — instead  of  the  city, 
with  its  populous  suburbs,  a  broad  expanse  of  water, 
only  bounded  by  the  horizon,  was  all  that  greeted  my 
vision. 

An  accident  occurred  during  the  night,  which  so 
implicated  the  boat's  machinery,  that  we  had  to  be 
towed  up  to  the  city  by  a  Turkish  and  English 
steamer;  and  so  slowly  did  we  advance,  that  the  sun 
had  passed  the  zenith  ere  we  came  in  sight  of  old 
Stambool.  It  was  two  o'clock,  p.  M.,  when  its 
mosques,  its  towering  minarets  and  mournful  cypress 
trees,  appeared  in  the  distance ;  and  how  inadequate 
to  the  task  of  describing  the  scene  that  then  pre 
sented  itself  do  I  feel ! 


CONSTANTINOPLE.  47 

All  the  glowing  fancies  which  had,  for  half  my 
lifetime,  filled  my  mind,  of  oriental  splendor  and 
magnificence,  as  so  graphically  portrayed  in  the 
"Arabian  Nights,"  appeared  to  be  realized.  Mil 
lions  of  reams  of  paper  and  oceans  of  ink  have  been 
consumed,  and  the  human  language  almost  exhausted 
in  faint  endeavors  to  describe  the  glorious  and  mag 
nificent  picture  afforded  by  the  approach,  from  the 
Sea  of  Marmora,  to  Constantinople.  To  the  traveller 
from  the  Western  world  the  scene  is  so  new  and  pe 
culiar,  so  essentially  different  from  anything  he  has 
ever  before  witnessed,  so  novel  and  oriental  withal, 
as  to  appear  more  like  a  strangely  beautiful  dream, 
which  the  waking  senses  will  dissipate,  than  a  palpa 
ble  reality.  He  has  dwelt  upon  the  beauty  and  gran 
deur  of  the  French  metropolis;  with  alternate  awe 
and  admiration  looked  down  from  the  giddy  heights 
of  the  Alpine  passes ;  or  feasted  his  eyes  upon  the 
ravishing  loveliness  of  Switzerland's  matchless  lakes 
and  valleys ;  the  "  City  of  the  Sea  "  has  charmed  his 
vision,  the  beautiful  Venice  itself,  where  the  tranquil 
waters  of  the  Adriatic  lave  the  marble  steps  of  a 
thousand  palaces,  and  where  there  is  all  of  tradition 
and  all  of  glory  in  the  associations  of  the  past  to 
give  a  zest  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  beauteous  pre- 


48  AMPHITHEATRE    OF    BEAUTY. 

sent ;  yet  have  all  these  failed  to  awaken  within  him 
so  great  admiration  as  the  scene  now  before  him. 
Proudly  there,  upon  its  seven  hills,  stands  Constanti- 
tinople;  its  gilded  mosques  and  minarets  flashing 
back,  with  a  golden  hue,  the  sun's  resplendent  rays. 
Seraglio  Point  looks  like  a  miniature  Paradise,  with 
its  many  domes  so  charmingly  commingled  with  the 
cypress,  and  forms  in  itself  a  complete  Eastern  pic 
ture  of  grace  and  loveliness. 

When  we  rounded  Seraglio  Point,  we  found  our 
selves  within  an  amphitheatre  of  beauty.  The  city, 
its  suburbs  both  on  the  European  and  Asiatic  shores ; 
the  Bosphorus  lined  with  gardens  and  palaces;  the 
Golden  Horn  filled  with  ships  from  wrhose  masts 
floated  the  flags  of  all  nations ;  the  large  war-ships  of 
the  Sultan,  one  or  two  of  which  carry  one  hundred 
and  forty  guns ;  the  thousands  of  slim  and  graceful 
caiques  that  shot  about  in  every  direction  over  the 
surface  of  the  water,  filled  with  grave  Turks,  robed 
in  the  fanciful  and  flowing  garments  of  the  East — all 
combined  to  make  up  this  matchless  picture. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

At   Anchor — Sleeping  on   Deck — A  Confused    Scene — A   Modern 
Babel — Pera — Conflagrations — Means  of   extinguishing    them — 
Turkish  versus  American  Firemen — A  Singular  Mode  of  showing 
,  the  Dissatisfaction  of  the  People. 

AT  length  the  rattling  chain  announced  the  sinking 
of  the  anchor,  and  we  came  to  a  standstill  in  the 
harbor.  In  connection  with  the  scene  which  then 
ensued,  I  would  remark  that  the  Turk,  be  he  a  Pasha, 
or  one  of  the  lowest  subjects  of  the  realm,  scarcely 
ever  goes  below  in  a  ship.  He  prefers  spreading  his 
bed  upon  the  open  deck,  where  he  can  enjoy  the  fresh 
breezes  of  Heaven. 

One-half  of  our  aft  deck,  it  being  separated  by  a 
temporary  partition  from  the  other  half,  or  first  class 
passenger  part,  was  completely  covered  with  mat 
tresses,  over  which  were  strewn  men,  women,  and 
children,  reclining  at  night,  and  squatting  d  la  Turque 
through  the  day. 

When  we  had  fairly  stopped,  there  was  a  general 
5 


50  PER  A. 

confusion  ;  our  oriental  passengers  were  the  chief  ac 
tors  in  the  scene  ;  there  was  a  grand  resurrection  of 
bodies  that  had  been  in  a  semi-recumbent  position  for 
four  or  five  days  and  nights  ;  an  universal  folding  up 
and  arranging  of  beds  and  bedding;  a  squabbling 
among  the  children ;  chattering  among  the  women ; 
much  talk  and  smoke  among  the  men ;  whilst  all 
around  the  steamer  were  hovering  caiques,  filled  with 
Turks,  Greeks,  Armenians,  &c.,  running  in  contact 
with  each  other,  quarrelling,  crying  out  to  the  pas 
sengers,  shrieking  in  all  languages ;  thus  rendering  the 
scene  a  perfect  Babel. 

In  an  hour  or  two  we  found  ourselves  deserted  by 
most  of  the  caiques  and  passengers,  leaving  us  sur 
rounded  by  soliciting  hotel  agents,  whom  we  soon 
despatched,  as  we  had  pretty  well  learned,  during  our 
travels  on  the  continent,  how  to  proceed  in  quest  of 
quarters  without  the  assistance  of  a  dozen  advisers. 

That  night  wre  were  comfortably  fixed  in  Pera, 
which  is  mostly  inhabited  by  Franks  ;  and,  being  sepa 
rated  from  Constantinople  by  the  Golden  Horn,  is 
quite  a  distinct  city.  The  houses  of  this  place  are 
mostly  large,  and  of  late  years  have  been  built  of 
stone,  to  prevent  the  fearful  ravages  so  frequently 
made  there  by  fires. 


CONFLAGRATIONS.  51 

They  are  generally  constructed  in  the  European 
style  and  afford  a  striking  contrast  with  the  small 
frame  tenements  of  the  Turks.  Speaking  of  fires  re 
minds  me  that  for  a  month  or  two  after  our  arrival 
in  Constantinople,  we  were  in  the  midst  of  them.  I 
had  often  heard  of  the  destructive  conflagrations  with 
which  that  city  was  afflicted,  but  certainly  was  not 
prepared  to  find  them  occurring  so  frequently  as  they 
did.  Eleven  large  fires  occurred  within  a  few  weeks, 
the  last  destroying  about  three  thousand  houses,  and 
turning  five  thousand  families  into  ^the  streets.  It 
looks  really  terrible  to  see  the  devouring  element 
lighting  up  the  whole  heavens  at  night,  demolishing 
miles  of  houses,  and  rendering  so  many  wretched  peo 
ple  homeless. 

There  are  not  those  efficient  means  of  extinguish 
ing  fires  that  we  have  in  the  United  States,  and  the 
firemen  of  our  country  would  be  amused  at  the  appa 
ratus  used,  and  the  inducements  which  set  the  fire 
men  to  work.  The  engine  is  so  small  that  it  can  be 
worked  by  four  men.  It  is  carried  on  their  shoulders 
and  is  supplied  with  water  by  hamals  or  porters  who 
convey  it  in  leathern  vessels  strapped  on  their 
backs. 

The  firemen  will  not  stir  an  inch  towards  rescuing 


52  SINGULAR    MODE    OF    SHOWING 

a  house  until  they  have  received  a  backshish  or  pay 
ment  in  money.  What  a  contrast  this  affords  with 
the  conduct  of  those  gallant  firemen  of  our  cities  who 
so  heroically  peril  life  and  limb,  for  no  compensation, 
to  save  the  property  of  their  fellow-citizens  ? 

How  often  have  I  wished,  when  the  devouring  ele 
ment  was  soaring  triumphantly,  that  an  American 
engine,  worked  by  American  firemen,  was  present  to 
arrest  its  progress.  However,  the  streets  are  too 
narrow  for  any  other  apparatus  to  be  taken  through 
them  than  that  now  in  use,  and  I  must  do  the  Turkish 
firemen  the  justice  to  say  that  when  they  once  get  to 
work  they  go  at  it  like  tigers,  and  as  their  engines, 
small  as  they  are,  can  throw  a  stream  a  hundred 
feet,  they  serve,  in  connection  with  the  general  prac 
tice  of  tearing  down  houses  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fire, 
as  assistants  at  least. 

In  former  times,  whenever  the  people  desired  to 
evince  their  dissatisfaction  with  the  Government,  they 
fired  the  city  night  after  night  until  a  change  of  the 
Ministry  took  place.  The  Sultan,  knowing  the  cause 
of  these  incendiary  acts,  and  fearing  the  great  im 
poverishment  they  were  calculated  to  produce  among 
his  subjects,  responded  to  their  wishes,  and  changed 
his  ministers. 


DISSATISFACTION    WITH    MINISTERS.      53 

This  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  case  whilst  we 
were  at  Constantinople,  as  the  ministers  who  were 
in  power  when  we  first  arrived,  were  odious  in  the 
eyes  of  the  people,  fires  followed  each  other  in  quick 
succession,  but  a  ministerial  change  taking  place, 
they  were  comparatively  rare  afterwards. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

A  Ride  through  Constantinople  on  Horseback — People  of  all 
Nations  and  Costumes — Turks,  Greeks,  Jews,  Moors,  Arabs,  Per 
sians,  &c. — Turkish  and  Armenian  Women — The  Perigee  and 
Yashmak— Hamals,  Donkeys,  and  Horses— Dogs  of  Constantinople 
and  Pera — Their  Peculiarities. 

A  FEW  days  after  our  arrival,  I  traversed  the 
principal  thoroughfares  of  Constantinople  on  horse 
back,  and  really  the  interesting  and  diversified 
objects  that  attracted  my  attention  were  well  worth 
the  trouble  and  risk  of  such  a  ride. 

People  of  all  nations,  clad  in  their  respective 
costumes,  were  to  be  seen :  the  grave  and  slowly- 
moving  Turks,  or  their  more  energetic  neighbors,  the 
Armenians  (the  latter,  presenting  pretty  much  the 
same  appearance  on  the  street,  as  the  former)  wad 
dling  along  in  their  full  breeches,  their  loose,  blue 
jackets,  heavily  embroidered  with  gold  and  silk, 
below  which,  stuck  in  rich  Cashmere  scarfs  appeared 
certain  formidable  fire-arms  and  Damascus  blades, 


TURKISH    AND    ARMENIAN    WOMEN.         55 

which  caused  me  instinctively  to  give  their  wearers 
plenty  of  room  to  pass ;  their  heads  surmounted  by 
large  turbans,  or  the  red  fez  of  modern  times,  their 
venerable  beards  falling  over  their  breasts ;  tall 
Greeks,  with  braided  jackets,  vests,  and  leggings, 
snow-white  and  ample  skirts,  rich  Persian  sashes 
encircling  their  narrow  waists,  jaunty  caps,  &c. ; 
wily  Jews,  with  their  long  and  flowing  garments ; 
dark  Moors  and  Arabs,  attired  in  the  wild  costumes 
peculiar  to  the  wandering  and  tent-dwelling  life  of 
the  desert ;  darkly  clothed  Persians,  with  their  con 
spicuous,  towering,  sharp-pointed  hats,  and  perhaps 
a  pile  of  costly  shawls,  of  their  own  country,  or 
Cashmere  thrown  over  their  shoulders;  fur-clad 
Georgians,  Circassians,  and  Russians ;  whilst,  here 
and  there,  appeared  a  fat  Pasha  on  horseback,  with  a 
dozen  attendants  pursuing  him  on  foot ;  or,  a  repre 
sentative  of  civilized  Europe,  whose  tall,  awkward 
hat,  scant  coat,  and  "tights,"  rendered  him  about  as 
odd-looking  a  biped  as  any  among  this  motley 
group  :  these  among  the  men. 

Among  the  women,  groups  of  whom  crowded  the 
streets,  there  was  not  so  great  a  variety  of  costumes. 

They  all  wore  ferigees  or  long  full  garments  some 
what  resembling  a  priest's  robe,  composed  of  various 


56         TURKISH    AND    ARMENIAN    WOMEN. 

materials  and  brightly  colored.  These  extended 
from  their  necks  to  their  feet,  and  were  held  up  in 
front  with  one  hand  to  keep  them  from  trailing.  The 
head  and  all  the  face,  saving  the  eyes,  were  covered 
with  the  yashmak  or  Turkish  veil ;  which  is  composed 
of  a  white  and  delicately  fine  muslin,  and  is  kept 
perfectly  clean  and  snow-like.  On  their  feet  were 
yellow  boots,  over  which  they  wore  slippers  with  no 
heels,  in  which  they  half  walked,  half  slid,  from  place 
to  place. 

Tliefcrigce  and  yashmak  impart  a  very  singular 
and  sepulchral  appearance  to  the  Turkish  women, 
making  them  look  as  though  they  had  just  arisen 
from  beneath  the  marble  slabs  that  adorn  their  own 
cypress-shaded  cemeteries. 

Between  the  yashmak's  white  folds  I  discerned 
many  a  pair  of  large,  brilliant  eyes,  black,  long- 
lashed  and  voluptuous;  and  as  Franks  particularly 
attract  the  attention  of  the  Turkish  women,  I  had  a 
fine  opportunity  of  observing  their  rolling  orbs. 

Some  of  the  Armenian  women  wear  such  thin 
yashmaks  that  their  features  can  be  discerned  through 
the  delicate  material.  Many  of  the  Armenian  women 
in  the  suburbs  of  Constantinople  do  not  wear  the  veil 
at  all,  but  their  fear  of  the  Turks  prevents  those  re- 


DONKEYS    AND    HORSES.  57 

siding  in  the  city  from  dispensing  with  it.  Even  the 
Turkish  women,  especially  those  who  think  themselves 
handsome,  appear  to  be  disposed  to  rid  themselves 
of  an  article  which  so  effectually  screens  their  beauty 
from  the  admiring  gaze  of  the  passer-by. 

Among  the  other  objects  that  claimed  my  atten 
tion  were  the  immense  number  of  donkeys,  hundreds 
of  which  were  toiling  through  the  streets  under  bur 
dens  that  appeared  calculated  to  sink  them  to  the 
ground.  Then  there  were  the  hamals,  or  porters,  car 
rying  loads  on  their  backs  equal  to  the  united  weight 
of  the  donkey  and  his  burden ;  and  to  complete  the 
picture,  wolfish-looking  dogs  were  prowling  about,  or 
lazily  lying  in  the  streets,  undisturbed  by  all  these 
moving  scenes,  save  when  they  felt  the  pressure  of 
a  horse's  foot,  or  that  of  some  unwary  pedestrian, 
on  their  tails. 

As  the  streets  of  Turkish  cities  are  too  narrow  for 
heavy  vehicles  all  ponderous  articles  have  necessarily 
to  be  carried  on  the  backs  of  hamals,  horses,  or 
mules.  Even  all  heavy  building  materials,  lumber, 
stone,  and  bricks,  are  transported  by  these  means, 
great  distances  and  up  steep  ascents. 

I  have  referred  to  the  risk  of  navigating  through 
such  a  living  channel  on  horseback,  not  because  the 


58  THE    DOGS    OF    CONSTANTINOPLE. 

Turks  are,  as  is  generally  thought,  a  ferocious  peo 
ple,  but  on  account  of  the  crowd  and  confusion,  the 
narrowness  of  the  streets,  and  the  fact  that  you  may, 
in  consequence  thereof,  excite  the  ire  of  some  one, 
you  do  not  know  whom  (he  may  be  a  Bedouin  or 
worse),  by  running  your  horse  against  him ;  or  you 
may  bring  down  the  vengeance  of  some  pious  Mussul 
man  upon  you  on  account  of  your  horse's  hoofs  set 
ting  one  of  his  canine  neighbors  to  howling. 

Everybody  has  heard  of  the  dogs  of  Constantino 
ple  ;  the  city  swarms  with  them.  They  have  no 
owners,  but  make  their  beds  in  the  middle  of  the 
public  thoroughfares,  or  the  commons,  and  depend 
for  their  food  upon  Moslem  charity. 

They  have  a  wolfish,  half-famished  look,  and  are 
divided  into  gangs,  each  gang  occupying  a  particular 
quarter  of  the  city,  and  promptly  repelling  any  tres 
passing  dogs  that  venture  on  its  premises.  As  it  is 
an  injunction  of  the  Koran  to  be  merciful  to  all  ani 
mals,  the  dog  scarcely  ever  receives  any  blows  from  a 
Turk ;  and  to  perceive  that  the  Turks  are  obedient  to 
Mahomet's  precepts  it  is  only  necessary  to  witness 
the  difference  in  the  actions  of  a  dog  of  Constantino 
ple  and  one  of  Pera,  when  a  club  is  elevated  to 
strike  him.  The  latter,  under  such  circumstances, 


THEIR    PECULIARITIES.  59 

with  that  instinctive  dread,  caused  by  the  recollection 
of  certain  disagreeable  impressions  which  have  been 
made  upon  him  at  sundry  times,  by  the  denizens  of 
"Infidel  Hill,"  flies  off  at  a  tangent  with  a  howl; 
with  the  former,  mere  threats  are  of  no  avail ;  having 
been  accustomed  to  the  largest  liberty  from  his  pup- 
pyhood,  to  lay  where,  and  bark  when,  he  pleases, 
and  being  moreover  possessed  of  a  true  oriental  indo 
lence,  actual  bloivs,  horse's  heels,  or  carriage-wheels, 
are  the  only  things  that  will  arouse  him  from  his 
lethargy. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Ramazan — Its  Rigid  Observance — Evening  Scenes  and  Enjoyments 
—Cafes— The  Turk's  Fondness  for  the  Pipe— The  Oriental's  In 
clination  to  Seek  for  Enjoyment  amid  the  Abodes  of  the  Dead — 
Separation  of  the  Sexes — The  Harem — The  Salamnik — Luxu 
rious  Enjoyments  of  the  Females. 

IT  was  during  the  Holy  Month  Ramazan  that  we 
arrived  at  Constantinople.  This  month  Mahomet  set 
apart  for  fasting  and  self-denial.  His  followers  are 
then  prohibited  (from  three  o'clock  in  the  morning 
until  sundown),  from  eating,  drinking,  or  even  smok 
ing,  abstinence  from  the  latter  enjoyment  being  the 
sorest  trial  of  all. 

On  account  of  the  way  in  which  time  is  reckoned 
among  the  Mahomedans,  the  Ramazan  in  the  course 
of  years  runs  through  every  season,  and  that  year, 
(1852)  occurring  in  midsummer,  its  strict  observance 
was  peculiarly  trying ;  still,  such  is  the  veneration  of 
the  Turk  for  the  commands  of  the  prophet  of  Mecca, 
that,  amidst  all  his  toil,  under  the  burning  rays  of  an 
Eastern  sun,  he  will  take,  in  the  specified  time,  no 


FONDNESS    FOR    THE    PIPE.  Gl 

nourishment ;  and  though,  as  he  labors  up  the  steep 
heights  of  Pera  and  Constantinople,  his  eye  rests, 
almost  every  moment,  upon  a  marble  fountain  with 
its  clear  gushing  water,  yet  no  cooling  draught 
refreshes  his  fevered  thirst. 

The  city  towards  evening  presents  a  far  different 
picture  from  that  witnessed  through  the  day.  When 
the  lengthening  shadows  intimate  the  almost  finished 
course  of  the  sun,  many  a  Moslem  eye  is  regarding 
his  diminishing  rays  with  peculiar  interest.  The 
cafe's,  as  yet  deserted,  are  being  swept,  seats  are  being 
arranged  in  front  of  them  for  the  expected  guests, 
pipes  are  being  prepared,  coffee  warmed,  and  sherbet 
cooled.  Soon  the  crowd  collects,  and  the  seats  of 
the  cafe's  are  occupied  by  long-bearded  Turks,  before 
whom  are  placed  nar galas,  with  their  long  tubes  grace 
fully  winding  over  them,  their  cut  glass  and  decanter- 
formed  bodies  half  filled  with  rose-water — and  their 
perforated  earthen  bowls  holding  the  grateful  to 
bacco. 

At  length  the  booming  cannon  from  a  neighboring 
fortress  announces  the  setting  of  the  sun  ;  almost  si 
multaneously  with  which  a  thousand  curling  eddies  of 
smoke  convince  the  passer-by  that  the  long  agony  is 
over,  and  that  the  Moslem  devotee  is  indulging  in 

6 


62  THE    CAFES. 

bright  reveries  of  Paradise,  and  luxuriates  in  a  bliss 
ful  oblivion  to  all  surrounding  objects,  amid  the  care- 
dispelling  fumes  of  his  pipe. 

After  smoking  for  awhile,  he  sips  strong  coffee  out 
of  diminutive  cups,  which  are  handed  around  gene 
rally  by  Greek  attendants.  The  drinking  of  this 
beverage  always  succeeds  the  use  of  the  pipe  ;  after 
which  sherbet,  cooled  by  snow  from  Olympus,  is  par 
taken  of;  then  follows  a  promiscuous  diet. 

The  reader  will  perceive,  from  what  we  have  just 
written,  that,  though  the  Turk  has  denied  himself 
both  food  and  drink  for  about  fifteen  hours,  yet  his 
first  consideration  after  the  expiration  of  the  pre 
scribed  period  of  abstinence,  is  the  everlasting  pipe. 

As  the  sun,  viewed  from  Constantinople,  sets  be 
hind  Olympus,  on  the  evening  of  the  closing  day  of 
Itamazan,  a  Turk  is  stationed  on  that  classic  mount 
to  give  the  earliest  intimation  to  the  self-sacrificing, 
but  now  rejoicing,  Mahomedans,  that  the  last  sun  of 
the  Holy  Month  has  set. 

We  have  referred  to  the  cafe's ;  some  of  these  are 
patronized  almost  exclusively  by  Turks,  others  by  a 
mixture  of  Turks,  Armenians,  and  other  orientals, 
whilst  others  still  are  frequented  principally  by 
Franks. 


SEPARATION    OF    THE    SEXES.  63 

The  best  cafes  are  those  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
cemetery,  both  within  and  without  the  city.  There 
appears  to  be  a  penchant  in  the  East  to  seek  for 
pleasure  and  enjoyment  amid  the  gloomy  abodes  of 
the  dead  ;  and,  with  many  a  curiously  wrought  tomb 
stone  rising  up  to  the  view  all  around  them,  upon 
which,  engraven  in  gilded  letters,  are  inscriptions  re 
cording  the  virtues  of  some  one  who  has  gone  to  his 
long  account,  or  admonishing  the  looker-on  of  the 
uncertainty  of  this  life,  and  the  preparations  neces 
sary  to  the  enjoyment  of  a  perfect  one  in  Paradise, 
are,  every  evening,  seated  a  merry  throng,  smoking, 
chatting,  drinking,  and  listening  to  the  soft  strains  of 
Italian  music,  or  the  less  refined  but  stranger  tones  of 
a  Turkish  band. 

Women  do  not  make  their  appearance  at  a  Turkish 
cafe.  In  fact,  Turkish  females  do  not,  on  any  occa 
sion,  out  of  doors,  mingle  with  the  men.  Even  when 
the  denizens  of  Constantinople,  in  order  to  escape  the 
heat  of  the  city,  resort  to  some  of  the  beautiful  val 
leys  opening  into  the  Bosphorus,  to  spend  the  day  in 
pic-nic  style,  the  two  sexes  do  not  associate  with  each 
other,  but  have  separate  places  to  ramble  about  in  or 
spread  their  mats. 

It  would  be  an  extremely  dangerous  experiment  for 


64  LUXURIOUS    ENJOYMENTS    OF 

a  Turkish  gentleman  to  walk,  stand,  or  converse  with 
a  Turkish  lady  in  any  public  place.  The  chances  are 
that  he  would  be  seized  by  a  cavasse,  or  public  officer, 
and  be  compelled  to  suffer  some  kind  of  penalty  for 
his  temerity  ;  and  that  too  even  if  the  woman  be  his 
own  wife. 

The  reason  is  obvious.  How  can  he  prove  that  she 
is  his  wife, — she  may  be  any  other  man's.  Thc/erz- 
gee  and  yashmak  entirely  conceal  her,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  the  eyes ;  these  resemble  a  thousand  pair  ; 
she  will  not  presume  to  expose  her  face  ;  her  tes 
timony,  under  the  circumstances,  is  not  taken ;  so 
what  is  the  bewildered  gallant  or  husband  to  do  but 
suffer  the  consequences  of  his  indiscretion  ? 

It  is  not  only  out  of  doors  where  the  two  sexes  are 
separated.  Even  at  home  they  occupy  distinct  and 
separate  apartments.  The  portion  of  the  house  occu 
pied  by  the  man  is  called  the  salamnik,  and  that 
part  in  which  the  wife  or  wives  live  is  termed  the 
harem. 

The  windows  of  the  harem  are  closely  latticed  to 
prevent  its  inmates  from  being  observed  by  outsiders. 
No  male  infidel  vision  ever  penetrates  into  those  sacred 
recesses  where,  reclining  luxuriously  upon  rich,  gold- 
embroidered,  cloth  divans,  the  air  glowing  with  Ara- 


THE    FEMALES.  65 

bia's  sweetest  perfumes,  surrounded  by  their  female 
attendants,  who  hearken  to  their  every  sigh,  and  hur 
riedly  obey  their  every  wish,  now  refreshing  them 
with  snow-cooled  sherbet,  and  anon  lulling  their 
senses  with  soft  voluptuous  music,  these  houris  while 
away  the  time  in  blissful  indolence. 


6* 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Wives  and  Slaves — Number  of  former  allowed  by  the  Koran — 
Reason  why  Turks  generally  have  but  one  Wife — 'Turkish  Wife's 
Extravagance — Valleys  of  the  "  Sweet  Waters  of  Europe  and  of 
Asia"  —  Picturesque  Scenes — Ox  Arabas  —  Female  costume — 
Arabian  Jugglers — Amusements  of  the  Men — Dashing  Steeds. 

SOME  of  the  wealthy  Turks  have  two  or  three 
wives,  besides  several  slaves,  who  are  generally  the 
fairest  women  of  Georgia  and  Circassia ;  as  a  general 
thing,  however,  they  have  but  one  wife,  though  the 
Koran  allows  them  four. 

The  Sultan  himself  has  no  more  than  this  last  num 
ber,  but  at  the  same  time  he  has  between  two  and 
three  hundred  of  the  most  lovely  female  slaves. 

The  common  impression  among  us  is  that  the  Turks 
can  have  as  many  wives  as  they  please,  or  can  sup 
port  ;  this  is  an  erroneous  idea,  as  they  can  never 
transcend  the  number  specified  in  the  Koran. 

The  reason  that  the  privilege,  extended  to  them  by 
Mahomet,  of  having  more  than  one  wife,  is  not  more 


PICTURESQUE    SCENES.  67 

frequently  availed  of  by  the  Turks,  is  attributable  to 
its  expensiveness. 

It  is  no  trifling  matter  to  support  one  wife,  to  keep 
around  her  the  necessary  attendants,  to  supply  her 
with  diamonds,  which  she  requires  the  greatest  abun 
dance  of  to  deck  herself  or  children  with ;  to  furnish 
her  with  bazaar  money,  which  is  expended  for  the 
fine  silks  of  Persia,  jewelled  slippers,  or  cashmere 
shawls  ;  all  of  which  appear  to  be  the  indispensable 
requisites  of  a  Turkish  wife.  When  these  expenses 
are  threatened  to  be  doubled  or  trebled,  it  is  not  a 
matter  of  any  great  surprise  that  the  Turk  remains 
satisfied  with  one  partner. 

The  beautiful  valleys  to  which  I  have  incidentally 
referred,  where  the  residents  of  Constantinople  have 
their  keffa  or  pic-nics,  are,  on  those  occasions,  most 
excellent  places  to  observe  the  Turkish  women. 

The  principal  resorts  are  the  valleys  of  the  Sweet 
Waters  of  Asia  and  of  Europe.  These,  every  Friday, 
(the  Turkish  Sabbath),  present  the  most  animated 
and  diversified  appearance  that  can  be  conceived  of. 

On  the  margin  of  a  small  clear  stream  that  mean 
ders  through  the  valley,  and  under  the  shade  of  over 
hanging  trees,  may  be  seen  spread,  hundreds  of 
richly  worked  Persian  mats ;  upon  which  are  seated, 


68  ARABIAN    JUGGLERS. 

in  picturesque  groups,  the  Turkish  women,  their 
black  busy  eyes  peering  out  between  the  folds  of 
yashmaks,  whose  whiteness  is  of  virgin  purity. 

Gaily  painted  and  gilded  arabas,  drawn  by  oxen, 
are  slowly  moving  along,  containing  women,  reclin 
ing  on  cushions,  who,  like  their  friends  on  the  bank, 
are  chattering,  looking  eagerly  around  upon  the 
crowd,  especially  scrutinizing  the  Frank  whom  curi 
osity  has  attracted  to  their  vicinity,  and  surveying 
themselves  in  small  mirrors,  which  they  carry  with 
them  on  such  occasions.  Here  and  there  are  chil 
dren  scampering  about  or  walking  with  all  the  dig 
nity  of  men  and  women,  their  little  bodies  almost 
covered  with  diamonds  and  other  precious  gems. 

It  is  only  on  the  little  girls  that  we  could  see  the 
costume  which  the  ferigee  and  yashmak  hid  on  the 
adults ;  the  loose  pantaloons  descending  below  a  long, 
full  skirt,  open  in  front,  and  festooned  up  at  the  side ; 
their  heads  being  ornamented  with  diamonds,  &c. 

Toward  the  lower  part  of  the  valley,  an  Arabian 
juggler  has  collected  around  him  a  crowd  of  astonished 
females,  who  evince  their  appreciation  of  his  wonder 
ful  tricks  by  shrill  bursts  of  laughter,  and  an  in 
creased  magnitude  of  their  already  amply  large  eyes. 

Still  farther  down,  near  the  Bosphorus,  are  gathered 


DASHING    STEEDS.  69 

the  men;  the  faithful  representation  of  whose  vari 
ous  costumes,  positions,  £c.,  would  defy  the  most 
adroit  brush  that  ever  made  the  canvas  glow  with 
life,  and  futile  would  be  any  attempt  of  my  feeble  pen 
to  delineate  them.  Turks,  Armenians,  Greeks,  Jews, 
Arabs,  and  Albanians,  are  there  gathered ;  clad  in 
the  gaudy  costumes  of  their  respective  countries, 
standing,  walking,  squatting  d  la  Turque,  smoking, 
drinking  coffee  and  sherbet ;  and  all,  save  the  pro 
foundly  grave  Turks,  breaking  out  into  the  most  im 
moderate  fits  of  laughter  at  the  surprising  feats  and 
antics  of  a  couple  of  Arab  wizards,  who,  with  wild 
looks  and  actions,  and  in  wilder  guttural  tones,  are 
astonishing  their  senses. 

In  the  extreme  upper  portion  of  the  "  Valley  of  the 
Sweet  Waters  of  Asia,"  is  a  large  area,  over  whose 
level  and  grass-covered  surface,  during  the  weekly 
jollifications,  dash  richly  caparisoned  horses,  which, 
with  their  well-conditioned  and  richly  clothed  riders, 
pursued  on  foot  by  armed  attendants,  add  greatly  to 
the  interest  of  the  general  scene. 


CHAPTER   X. 

An  Audience  with  Sultan  Abdul  Medjid — Rowed  by  American 
Sailors — The  Bosphorus — Boat  of  the  American  Legation — Emo 
tions  on  beholding  the  Flag  of  our  Native  Land — Reach  the  Sul 
tan's  Palace — Reception-Room — Our  Appearance — Pipe-Bearers 
— Mode  of  Presenting  the  Pipe — Magnificent  Amber  and  Jewelled 
Mouth-pieces — Their  Abundance — Turkish  Tobacco — Former 
Smoking  Customs — Sarfs — Coffee — Enter  the  Palace — An  Exhibi 
tion  of  our  Veneration  for  the  "  Shadow  of  God  on  Earth" — The 
Sultan's  "Pages." 

WHILST  we  were  at  Constantinople,  the  Hon. 
George  P.  Marsh,  United  States  Minister  at  the  Sub 
lime  Porte,  sailed  in  the  United  States  Steamship  San 
Jacinto,  for  Athens,  to  settle  certain  difficulties  be 
tween  Mr.  King,  an  American  Missionary,  and  the 
Greek  Government. 

On  the  occasion  of  his  departure,  he  had  an  au 
dience  with  the  Sultan,  who,  at  the  time,  was  occupy 
ing  a  palace  on  the  Asiatic  shores  of  the  Bosphorus. 

Availing  myself  of  so  rare  an  opportunity  to  see 
His  Sublime  Higltncss^  face  to  face,  I  became  at- 


THE    BOSPHORUS.  71 

tached  to  the  Minister's  suite ;  and  as  it  was  impossi 
ble  to  be  ushered  into  the  Royal  presence  in  the  plain 
garb  of  a  civilian,  I  was  under  the  necessity  of  doffing 
it,  and  rigging  myself  en  militaire. 

Towards  noon,  we  left  the  San  Jacinto,  John  P. 
Brown,  Esq.,  of  the  United  States  Legation,  Captain 
Crabbe,  and  several  of  his  officers,  being  of  the  party. 

Propelled  by  the  lusty  arms  of  American  sailors, 
we  glided  rapidly  over  the  quiet  waters  of  the  Golden 
Horn  and  Bosphorus  ;  now  wending  our  way  between 
scores  of  light  caiques,  that  were  cleaving  the  waters 
in  all  directions,  and  anon  passing  under  the  frowning 
batteries  of  the  Sultan's  prodigious  gun-ships,  that 
were  anchored  out  in  the  stream. 

Ascending  the  Bosphorus  a  couple  of  miles,  we  dis 
cerned  in  the  distance,  rounding  one  of  those  glorious 
promontories  for  which  this  noble  channel  is  so  fa 
mous,  a  large  caique,  rowed  by  nine  caiquejies  or 
boatmen,  all  of  whom  were  clad  in  white  silk  shirts. 

A  large  eagle,  with  expanded  wings,  perched  upon 
its  bow,  and  the  star-spangled  banner  floating  at  the 
stern,  soon  convinced  us  that  it  was  the  boat  of  the 
American  Legation. 

What  heartfelt  emotions  were  awakened  by  the 
contemplation  of  the  "Banner  of  the  Free,"  waving 


72  THE   SULTAN'S   PALACE. 

over  those  foreign  waters,  where  we  were  separated 
by  seas  and  continents  from  our  native  land  !  The 
feelings  are  indeed  patriotic  and  proud,  that  a  true- 
hearted  American  experiences  when  beholding  his 
country's  flag  upon  a  distant  sea  or  soil.  He  who 
has  never  left  the  free  shores  of  America,  and 
traversed  the  despotic  countries  of  the  Old  World, 
cannot  realize  them. 

The  boat  had  on  board  the  United  States  Minister, 
and  bending  our  course,  as  did  it  (as  we  approached 
each  other),  towards  the  Asiatic  shore,  we  soon  found 
ourselves  sailing  in  company  with  the  Minister,  in  the 
direction  of  the  Sultan's  palace.  That  reached,  we 
landed  on  a  marble  quay,  in  the  presence  of  two  files 
of  soldiery,  which  formed  the  outer  guards  of  the 
palace. 

We  were  then  conducted  by  an  officer  through  a 
court  paved  with  marble,  and,  between  two  other 
rows  of  soldiers,  into  the  reception-room  ;  where,  by 
the  guidance  of  the  master  of  ceremonies,  we  seated 
ourselves  on  the  divans,  which  there,  as  in  almost 
every  Turkish  house,  extended  around  three  sides  of 
the  room. 

We  were  arranged  in  a  line  vis-a-vis  with  the  Ger- 


PIPE-BEARERS.  73 

man  Legation,  whose  chief  had  also  come  to  take 
leave  of  His  Imperial  Majesty. 

On  account  of  our  number,  and  the  style  of  our 
uniform,  we  made  quite  a  formidable  appearance ; 
and  when  I  looked  on  both  sides  of  me,  I  felt  really 
proud  of  the  fine  picture  our  little  republican  party 
presented  at  the  Court  of  the  descendant  of  the  Otto 
mans. 

A  few  minutes  after  we  were  seated,  a  troop  of 
pipe-bearers  filed  into  the  room,  each  bearing  the 
eternal  pipe. 

They  approached  us  with  measured  steps  and 
dignity,  and,  with  one  hand  pressed  against  their 
hearts,  with  the  other  presented  to  each  of  us  a  pipe, 
and  then  retreated,  with  their  faces  directed  toward 
us,  until  they  were  completely  out  of  the  room. 
This  was  all  accomplished  with  the  utmost  precision 
and  regularity,  and  though  there  were  over  a  dozen 
of  us  served  at  the  same  time,  our  long  pipes  stretch 
ing  out  on  the  floor,  forming  stumbling-blocks  to  less 
experienced  persons,  and  though  each  pipe-bearer 
walked  bacfavards,  there  was  no  coming  in  contact 
either  with  each  other  or  the  pipes. 

We  were  struck  with  the  richness  of  the  amber 
and  jewelled  mouth-pieces  of  the  pipes ;  row  after 

7 


74  TURKISH    TOBACCO. 

row  of  diamonds,  rubies,  sapphires,  &c.,  made  up 
their  glittering  beauty. 

Lieutenant  Wainwright  and  myself  calculated  the 
value  of  the  mouth-pieces  through  which  we  smoked, 
and  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that  each  one  could 
not  be  worth  less  than  two  thousand  dollars.  But 
some  were  far  richer  than  ours,  the  approximate 
value  of  which  I  would  not  like  to  state,  lest  I  be 
charged  with  exaggeration. 

There  appeared  to  be  a  profusion  of  these  gem- 
sparkling  pipes,  for  notwithstanding  each  of  our 
party  was  served,  the  German  Legation  was  also 
served  with  them,  and  we  must  hence  conclude  that 
there  is  a  sufficiency  on  hand  to  supply  any  number 
of  embassies  that  may  happen  to  seek  an  interview 
with  His  Highness,  on  one  and  the  same  day. 

The  tobacco  had  a  very  delicate  flavor,  and  I 
should  think,  on  account  of  its  pleasantness  and  the 
magnificent  mouth-pieces  through  which  it  was 
whiffed,  that  the  most  rigidly  abstemious  person  in 
the  world  would  have  been  tempted  to  take  a  few 
puffs.  Just  to  think  of  a  glorious  inhalation  of  the 
fumes  of  the  finest  tobacco  of  Turkey,  through 
transparent  amber  and  rings  of  diamonds,  worth 
thousands  of  dollars ! 


SARFS.  75 

Formerly,  it  was  the  custom,  when  one  Turkish 
dignitary  visited  another,  to  have  pipes  brought  out 
for  him  and  those  accompanying  him  as  friends;  but 
as  this  was  a  very  expensive  fashion,  involving  the 
necessity  of  keeping  an  unlimited  number  of  pipes, 
it  is  now  almost  abandoned,  and  each  guest  or 
visiter,  if  he  be  a  man  of  any  consequence,  takes  his 
own  pipes  (borne  by  pipe-bearers)  with  him. 

It  is  really  amusing  to  see  a  Turkish  grandee 
galloping  along  on  horseback,  with  a  train  of  atten 
dants  pursuing  him  on  foot,  conspicuous  among 
whom  are  the  pipe-bearers. 

Of  course,  it  is  not  expected  of  the  Franks  to 
carry  the  Tchibouk  with  them,  and  hence  provision 
is  always  made  for  them. 

After  a  brief  enjoyment  of  our  pipes,  another 
relay  of  servants  marched  into  the  room,  bearing 
small  cups,  placed  in  magnificent  sarfs,  the  latter 
vying  with  the  amber  mouth-pieces  in  the  richness  of 
their  material  and  adornments,  and  served  us  with 
the  most  delicious  coffee,  which  article  the  Turks 
excel  in  making. 

The  smoking,  the  drinking  of  coffee  and  sherbet, 
and  some  friendly  chatting  in  French,  with  the 
Master  of  Ceremonies,  having  been  gone  through 


76  THE  SULTAN'S   "PAGES." 

with,  a  messenger  made  his  appearance,  announcing 
that  His  Imperial  Majesty  was  ready  to  receive  us. 

Rising  and  following  him,  we  crossed  over  a  court, 
paved  with  gravel  mosaic,  and  mounting  the  marble 
steps,  passed  into  the  Grand  Entrance  of  the  Palace, 
which  was  guarded  on  either  side  by  Turkish  sol 
diers.  Here  the  faithful  are  compelled  to  doff  their 
shoes,  using  slippers  as  a  substitute,  as  it  would  be 
the  height  of  sacrilege  to  mar  the  marble  or  oak- 
panelled  floors  of  the  Palace,  wherein  dwells  the 
"  Shadow  of  God  on  earth,"  with  the  heavy  and 
soiled  foot-coverings  of  the  street. 

But  we  infidels  were  spared  that  trouble,  and 
planted  our  calf-skins  or  patent-leathers  (with  our 
feet  in  them\  on  the  clean  and  highly  polished  floors 
of  the  Imperial  Mansion,  with  such  nonchalance, 
that  the  devout  disciples  of  the  Holy  Prophet  must 
have  been  wonderfully  surprised  at  our  want  of 
veneration. 

We  continued  on  through  two  successive  apart 
ments,  both  furnished  in  the  most  regal  and  Eastern 
style ;  in  the  first  of  which,  drawn  up  in  a  double 
column,  were  the  "pages"  of  the  Sultan,  who,  with 
their  tall  helmets  and  feathers,  looked  very  grand 
and  picturesque. 


CHAPTER   XL 

Audience  with  the  Sultan,  continued — Enter  the  Sultan's  Apartment 
Turkish  Salutation— Mr.  Marsh's  Speech— The  Sultan's  Reply- 
Description  of  the  Sultan's  Person — His  Dress — Profusion  of 
Diamonds — Inverted  feet  and  their  Cause — Abdul  Medjid  as 
compared  with  Mahmoud  the  Second — Energy  of  the  Latter — 
His  Reforms — Benevolence  of  the  present  Sultan — His  Liberal 
Policy  towards  Christians — His  want  of  Energy — Stagnation  of 
the  Empire — Its  Cause — Unequalness  of  Taxation — Presentation 
of  Mr.  Brown — Backing-out  Ceremonies. 

ON  entering  into  the  third  apartment  of  the  palace 
our  eyes  fell  upon  His  Majesty,  the  Sultan,  who  was 
standing,  with  no  one  near  him  save  the  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  in  the  remotest  part  of  it,  awaiting 
our  approach. 

We  advanced  to  within  three  yards  of  him  and  then 
made  the  usual  Turkish  salutation,  which  (the  hand 
being  first  carried  very  low  and  then  brought  near  the 
lips),  is  in  rude  imitation  of  kissing  the  earth  on 
which  the  Sovereign  treads. 

Whilst  making  these  salaams  the  Sultan  graciously 


78  MR.   MARSH'S   SPEECH. 

condescended  to  bestow  a  look,  calm,  and  apparently 
indifferent  as  it  was,  upon  us.  A  moment  after  these 
formalities  our  minister  commenced  his  address ;  the 
Dragoman  of  the  Porte  occupying  a  position  between 
him  and  the  Sultan. 

Mr.  Marsh  referred  to  the  friendly  relations  exist 
ing  between  our  country  and  the  Sublime  Porte,  ex 
pressing  his  hope  that  they  might  ever  continue. 

He  spoke  of  the  interest  which  the  people  of  the 
United  States  felt  in  the  prosperity  of  Turkey,  of  the 
good  wishes  which  he  and  those  with  whom  he  was 
officially  associated  personally  entertained  for  His 
Highness,  &c.  His  speech  was  made  in  French,  and 
was  translated,  piecemeal,  by  the  Court  Interpreter 
into  Turkish.  The  Sultan  replied  to  each  sentence 
in  a  low,  scarcely  audible  tone,  barely  articulating  the 
words.  In  fact  it  appeared  to  be  an  effort  for  him  to 
talk  at  all,  and  perhaps  he  thought  that  we  poor  sub 
lunary  infidels,  who  were  not,  like  him,  destined  to  a 
paradise,  where  innumerable  houris  ravish  with  their 
charms,  were  not  tvorth  that  effort. 

He  expressed  his  pleasure  at  the  existing  amicable 
relations  between  the  two  countries;  his  thanks  for 
the  kind  wishes  of  the  people  of  the  new  world  and 
its  Representatives  to  his  Government;  his  hopes 


DESCRIPTION     OF    THE    SULTAN.  79 

that  the  Minister  would  succeed,  according  to  his 
wishes,  in  the  mission  upon  which  he  was  about  to 
start,  &c. 

During  the  intervals  which  occurred  in  the  delivery 
of  his  remarks  he  cast  an  occasional  languid  look  upon 
first  one  and  then  another  of  us,  which  gave  us  a  fine 
opportunity  to  scan  his  features. 

He  is  rather  low  in  stature,  has  dark,  melancholy 
eyes,  which  exhibit  an  almost  total  lack  of  energy,  but 
which  have,  at  the  same  time,  an  amiable  and  benevo 
lent  expression. 

The  tout  ensemble  of  his  face  is  good,  but  on  a 
careful  inspection  of  it  I  discovered  that  it  was  much 
pitted  with  small-pox.  Like  most  Mussulmans,  he 
wears  a  full  beard.  He  had  a  black  cloth  cloak 
thrown  over  him,  which  was  fastened  in  front  with  a 
rich  jewelled  clasp.  His  coat  was  so  richly  em 
broidered,  braided,  and  studded  with  diamonds,  that 
it  would  be  vain  to  attempt  to  describe  it.  The  collar 
and  cuffs  were  completely  encased  in  diamonds.  He 
wore  a  sword  which  reposed  in  one  of  the  most  ele 
gantly  chased  gold  scabbards  that  the  most  exalted 
fancy  could  conceive  of.  On  his  head  was  the  red 
fez,  which  is  universally  worn,  by  high  and  low, 
throughout  the  Empire. 


80  M  A  II  M  0  U  D     THE     SECOND. 

To  our  surprise,  he  remained  standing  all  the  time 
we  were  in  His  Royal  presence,  the  unusual  exertion 
attendant  upon  which,  must  have  been  quite  fatiguing 
to  His  Highness. 

His  feet  are  very  much  inverted ;  but  such  is  the 
case  with  those  of  most  of  the  Turks,  owing  to  the 
position  in  which  they  sit,  their  being  so  constantly 
in  the  saddle,  and  a  certain  custom  of  their  infantile 
days,  which  modesty  forbids  me  mentioning. 

In  surveying  thus  closely  Abdul  Medjid,  his  calm, 
apathetic  expression,  &c.,  I  could  not  but  reflect  how 
essentially  he  differed  from  the  late  Sultan,  his  father, 
in  those  qualities  which  it  is  so  important  that  a 
sovereign  of  a  mighty  country  in  these  days  of  pro 
gress  and  political  reform  should  possess. 

Mahmoud  the  Second  was  energetic.  He  com 
menced  and  carried  out  many  great  reforms  in  his 
Empire.  The  awkward,  bundling  clothes  of  the 
soldiery  were  substituted  by  the  snug-fitting  garments 
of  civilized  Europe. 

The  Janissaries,  that  bloody  band,  long  the  terror 
of  the  Mahomedan  Sultans  and  the  inveterate  enemies 
of  reform,  he  effectually  destroyed ;  a  collection  of 
costumed  figures,  in  a  Museum  of  Constantinople, 


STAGNATION     OF    THE    EMPIRE.  81 

being  exhibited  to  the  curious  traveller  to  give  him 
an  idea  of  what  they  once  were. 

Many  other  important  beneficial  changes  he  ac 
complished,  which  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  mention. 

The  present  Sultan  I  believe  to  be  a  man  of  most 
excellent  heart,  generous  and  kind.  This  was  exhi 
bited  by  the  course  he  pursued  toward  the  Hunga 
rians,  who  found  a  safe  shelter  under  the  "  Star  and 
Crescent"  when  pressed  by  Austrian  tyranny. 

The  liberal  policy  he  pursues  in  reference  to  all 
Christians  who  dwell  within  his  dominions  is  also 
worthy  of  all  commendation,  and  far  be  it  from  me 
to  detract  in  the  least  from  his  nobleness  and  magna 
nimity.  But  certainly  he  has  not  the  strong  mind 
and  bold  fortitude  that  his  father  possessed,  nor  do  I 
think  he  makes  the  same  effort  to  introduce  reforms 
into  his  government. 

The  Empire  is  in  statu  quo,  which,  in  this  progres 
sive  age  is  the  same  thing  as  retrogradation. 

The  revenues,  under  the  present  system  of  raising 
them,  are  inadequate  to  the  expenses  of  the  govern 
ment  ;  whose  functions,  in  consequence  thereof,  are 
considerably  paralyzed. 

Taxation  is  very  unequal  and  unjust.  The  pro 
vinces,  where  the  poor  people  have  scarcely  aught 


&2  PRESENTATION    OF    MR.     BROWN. 

else  but  miserably  small  patches  of  soil  to  depend 
upon  for  their  daily  food,  having  the  greater  portion 
of  the  taxes  to  pay. 

The  great  City  of  Constantinople,  where  exists  so 
much  wealth,  pays  nothing;  so  the  unequalness  of 
taxation,  and  the  utter  inability  of  such  a  system  to 
meet  the  exigencies  of  the  government,  are  clearly 
perceptible. 

It  really  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Sultan  will,  ere 
long,  see  clearly  into  this  matter,  and  enjoin  an  ad 
valorem  tax  upon  all  property  in  his  dominions  ; 
whether  held  by  his  own  subjects  or  Franks.  Should 
this  be  done  there  is  no  doubt  but  what  the  resources  of 
the  government  would  be  adequate  to  its  expenses. 

But  we  must  return  to  our  main  topic. 

The  speechification  having  been  concluded,  and  Mr. 
Brown,  with  whom  his  majesty  is  personally  ac 
quainted,  and  for  whom  it  appeared  he  entertains  the 
highest  esteem,  having  been  presented  as  Charge 
d' Affaires  of  the  United  States,  we  all  took  leave  of 
His  Highness  in  a  manner  which,  owing  to  our  num 
ber  and  inexperience  in  such  matters,  was  somewhat 
embarrassing. 

Keeping  our  faces  turned  toward  the  Sultan,  we 
commenced  a  general  "  backing-out,"  only  occasion- 


BACKING-OUT    CEREMONIES.  83 

ally  bumping  against  each  other,  or  wounding  the 
tender  sensibilities  of  the  toes  in  our  rear.  To  a 
looker-on  this  scene  must  have  been  quite  ludicrous 
and  I  should  think  the  Sultan  would  enjoy  such 
mightily,  if  the  Koran  allows  him  to  laugh  in  the 
presence  of  unbelievers.  As  for  ourselves,  we  were 
so  ambitious  to  go  through  the  ceremony  gracefully, 
orientally,  and  safely,  as  to  render  us  totally  insensible 
to  the  humorous  phase  of  it. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

Visit  to  the  Harem  of  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs — The  Ef- 
fendi's  Palace — Cavasses — Astonishing  Number  of  Attendants — 
European  Innovations— A  Beautiful  Eastern  Picture — Coffee, 
Sherbet,  and  Pipes — A  Point  of  Etiquette — Turkish  Vanity — Rose 
Leaf  Preserves — The  Conservatory — A  Little  Eden — Bubbling 
Water,  Flowers,  Birds,  and  Sunshine — Sudden  Appearance  of  a 
Eunuch — Accompanying  Him  into  the  Precincts  of  the  Harem, 

ONE  day  we  visited  the  house  of  Fuad  Effendi, 
then  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  Ottoman 
Porte. 

Mr.  Brown's  long  intimacy  and  friendship  with 
His  Excellency  procured  for  the  ladies  who  accompa 
nied  us,  a  welcome  admission  into  Madame  Fuad's 
apartments,  the  Harem.  This  is  an  honor  rarely 
accorded  to  those  whom  the  followers  of  the  Prophet 
are  pleased  to  term  "  infidels." 

After  a  short  and  delightful  row  on  the  Bosphorus, 
in  one  of  those  light  and  graceful  boats  called 


NUMBER    OF    ATTENDANTS.  85 

caiques,  that  glide  over  the  surface  of  the  water  like 
an  arrow  sped  from  a  bow,  we  found  ourselves  in 
front  of  the  Effendi's  palace. 

On  its  marble  steps,  which  are  laved  by  the  waters 
of  the  Bosphorus,  we  noticed  the  cavasses,  or  guards, 
their  heads  covered  with  the  red  fez,  with  its  blue 
silk  tassel,  their  coats  thickly  braided,  and  their 
swords  slung  to  their  sides,  ready  to  receive  us. 

It  astonishes  an  American  to  see  the  great  number 
of  attendants  that  a  Turkish  gentleman  deems  it  ne 
cessary  to  have  around  him  upon  almost  every  occa 
sion.  If  he  be  a  Pasha,  or  Minister  of  State,  it  seems 
impossible  for  him  to  stir  out  without  having  a  dozen, 
sometimes  five  times  the  number,  running  after  him — 
some,  should  he  be  mounted,  to  attend  to  his  horse ; 
some  as  pipe-bearers ;  others  as  guards ;  and  others 
still  for  what  purpose  no  one  can  imagine,  save  it  be 
the  effect  produced  by  their  presence. 

Fuad  Effendi,  on  account  of  his  rank,  appeared  to 
be  pretty  liberally  supplied  with  them. 

The  steps  ascended,  we  were  conducted  into  a 
large  and  beautiful  garden,  then  through  a  marble 
hall,  and  from  thence  into  the  reception-room. 

Here,  though  we  found  everything  elegant  in  the 
extreme,  costly,  and  in  the  best  taste,  we  perceived  a 

8 


86  COFFEE    AND    SHERBET. 

decided  innovation  of  European  fashions  and  inven 
tions.  We  soon  noticed  that  the  contiguity  of  Turkey 
with,  and  the  intercommunication  existing  between  it 
and  more  civilized  countries,  was  rapidly  revolution 
izing  the  mode  of  living  among  the  Orientals  of  the 
letter  class,  at  least,  and  had  already  wrought  impor 
tant  changes. 

We  seated  ourselves  upon  almost  the  only  relic  of 
the  luxurious  past,  the  divan,  with  the  charming  Bos- 
phorus  exposed  to  our  view,  whose  placid  bosom,  re 
flecting  many  a  mosque  and  gilded  minaret,  pillared 
palace,  terraced  garden,  or  tall  dark  cypress,  adorning 
the  opposite  European  shores,  affords  from  the  Effen- 
di's  windows  a  magnificent  Eastern  picture.  We  had 
not  long  composed  ourselves  before  coffee  was  served 
to  us.  No  stronger  stimulant  is  ever  used  on  such 
occasions. 

This  beverage  always  makes  its  appearance  during 
a  visit,  whether  social  or  diplomatic ;  and  it  is  cer 
tainly  very  refreshing  after  a  walk  or  ride,  and  whilst 
waiting  to  see  the  person  upon  whom  you  have 
called. 

In  summer,  in  addition  to  coffee,  sherbet  is  served 
to  the  guest — a  drink  composed  of  the  juice  of  the 
cherry,  and  cooled  with  snow  from  Olympus. 


TURKISH    VANITY.  87 

The  coffee  was  brought  as  far  as  the  door  by  one 
domestic  on  a  rich  salver,  covered  with  a  scarlet  and 
gold-embroidered  cloth,  which  was  removed  by  ano 
ther  servant  and  thrown  gracefully  over  the  shoulder 
of  the  first;  the  coffee  was  poured  out  by  a  third  at 
tendant,  from  the  same  vessel  in  which  it  was  made, 
into  small  china  cups,  each  placed  in  a  sarf,  or  outer 
cup,  the  latter  composed  of  gold  and  silver  and  inlaid 
with  precious  gems.  A  fourth  servant  handed  these 
around ;  and,  after  each  guest  had  partaken  of  the 
coffee,  pipes  made  of  jessamine-wood  with  amber 
mouth-pieces,  adorned  with  diamonds,  were  brought 
to  the  gentlemen. 

Pipes,  like  the  former  article,  are  the  invariable 
concomitants  of  a  Turkish  visit ;  and  it  is  considered 
quite  a  breach  of  etiquette  for  a  gentleman  to  refuse 
them,  when  proffered,  whether  he  be  a  smoker  or  not 
— he  must  accept,  and  take  one  or  two  whiffs  at  least. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  richness  of  the  pipes  and 
the  sarfs ; — there  is  the  same  disposition  to  display 
these  articles  as  there  is  on  the  part  of  a  fashionable 
young  lady  to  exhibit  her  jewelry ;  and,  as  the  pipe 
and  sarf  appear  so  frequently  before  friends,  there 
could  be  no  better  media  for  showing  gemly  wealth. 

After  we  had  smoked  and  chatted  for  a  while,  rose- 


88  A    LITTLE     EDEN. 

leaf  conserves  were  brought  in.  This  is  one  of  the 
most  palatable  and  delicate  preserves  that  could  be 
conceived  of,  and  is,  I  believe,  peculiar  to  the  East. 
Each  guest  takes  but  one  spoonful — never  any  more, 
replacing  the  spoon  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  waiter 
from  whence  he  has  taken  it,  to  prevent  its  re-use ; 
the  morsel  is  then  washed  down  by  a  mouthful  of 
water. 

The  diminutive  quantity  taken  reminds  me  of  the 
fact,  that  in  a  Turkish  house  refreshments  are  always 
served  up  in  homoeopathic  doses  ;  it  is  only  the  con 
stantly  recurring  participation  of  them  that  enables 
the  "inner  man"  to  derive  any  satisfaction  from 
them. 

These  formalities  having  been  concluded,  we  walked 
into  the  conservatory  attached  to  the  reception-rooms. 
This  we  found  to  be  a  perfect  little  Eden. 

The  first  object  that  arrested  our  attention  was  a 
sea-nymph,  which,  resting  on  a  rock,  reared  its  marble 
front  from  out  the  centre  of  a  circular  basin  of  water, 
in  which  swam  golden-hued  fish.  Over  this  was  sus 
pended  a  beautiful  alabaster  lamp,  being  one  of  a  row 
that  hung  from  the  ceiling  of  the  Conservatory  along 
its  median  line. 

Parallel  to  these,  on  either  side,  were  suspended 


FLOWERS,     BIRDS,     AND    SUNSHINE.        89 

two  other  rows  of  stained  glass  lamps,  alternating 
with  Gothic  flower  pots,  in  each  of  which  latter,  and 
clinging  around  it,  were  the  most  lovely  running 
plants. 

Along  the  sides  of  the  Conservatory,  and  mounting 
up  to  the  glass  roofs,  were  ivies  of  every  description ; 
adjacent  to  which  grew  orange  and  lemon  trees,  laden 
with  fruit ;  flower  beds  appeared  here  and  there,  and 
rustic  seats  made  of  iron. 

The  walks  were  paved  with  gravel  mosaic,  a  style 
of  paving  very  beautiful  and  very  much  in  vogue  in 
and  near  Constantinople. 

The  side  of  the  summer-house  which  looked  out  on 
the  flower  garden  was  formed  of  stained  and  parti 
colored  glass. 

Altogether,  the  effect  produced  by  the  commingling 
of  such  sweet  associations,  the  bubbling  of  the  water 
from  the  sea-nymph,  the  carolling  of  birds  of  strange 
notes  and  plumage,  that  found  ready  access  to  this 
fairy  scene,  the  fragrance  of  the  orange  and  the 
lemon,  the  beauty  and  the  odor  of  the  flowers,  and 
the  many  beauteous  hues  which  the  bright  sunshine, 
reflecting  on  the  stained  glass,  cast  over  everything, 
was  wonderfully  fascinating. 

Whilst  we  were  enjoying  these  Paradisial  scenes, 
8* 


90  A    EUNUCH. 

an  eunuch,  black  as  moonless  midnight,  clad  in  a 
scarlet  robe  lined  with  fur,  suddenly  made  his  ap 
pearance  like  the  genii  of  old,  and  announced,  in  his 
uncouth  vernacular,  that  he  was  ready  to  conduct 
our  female  friends  within  the  sacred  precincts  of  the 
Harem. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

Follow  the  Eunuch  into  the  apartments  of  the  Harem — Accompa 
nied  by  Circassian  slaves,  ascend  to  Madame  Fuad's  Chamber — 
Luxurious  Repose — Salutation — Madame  Fuad's  Manner  and 
Occupations — Her  Interest  in  her  Slaves — Their  Accomplish 
ments — Turkish  Female  Dress — Unlike  the  "  Bloomer" — Content 
ment  of  the  Slaves — Female  Slavery  in  the  East  a  luxurious 
Captivity — Desire  of  the  Young  Circassian  Girls  to  be  sold  into 
Slavery — Madame  Fuad's  Inquiries  concerning  Matrimonial  Cus 
toms  in  our  Country — Latticed  Windows — Part  with  Her  Lady 
ship — Serving  of  Refreshments — The  Ladies  return  to  the 
Salamnik — The  Black  Eunuch,  the  Guardian  Spirit  of  the  Harem 
— Fuad  Effendi — His  Intelligence  and  Reformatory  Sentiments — 
His  Garden — Miniature  Lake — Swiss  Cottage — Birds,  Statues, 
&c. — Departure. 

THE  eunuch  led  our  friends  through  several  large 
apartments  into  one  comparatively  small.  Here  they 
were  received  by  two  Turkish  women,  rather  ad 
vanced  in  life,  who  were  surrounded  by  about  a  dozen 
Circassian  slaves. 

By  a  wave  of  the  hand  the  ladies  were  requested 
to  be  seated,  and  were  informed,  that  on  account  of 
Her  Ladyship  being  indisposed,  she  would  be  happy 


92  SALUTATION. 

to  see  the  visitors  in  her  own  chamber.  In  a  short 
time  the  little  daughter  of  Madame  entered  the  room 
and  said  her  Ma  was  ready  to  receive  them. 

With  some  of  the  slaves  preceding,  others  follow 
ing  them,  they  ascended  a  wide,  circuitous  and 
splendid  stairway,  and  were  ushered  into  an  apart 
ment  where,  on  a  couch  formed  of  green  and  yellow 
satin  cushions,  with  a  splendidly  embroidered  cloth 
of  the  richest  hues  and  material  thrown  over  her,  sur 
rounded  by  a  host  of  fair  Circassians  and  Georgians, 
one  of  whom  was  gently  fanning  her,  gracefully  re 
clined  her  Ladyship. 

She  partially  arose  on  their  entrance,  and  saluted 
them  by  carrying  her  right  hand  to  her  chin,  and  then 
quickly  to  her  forehead. 

Almost  simultaneously  with  this  salutation  the 
slaves  placed  chairs  in  front  of  her,  upon  which  our 
friends  seated  themselves ;  during  this  time  other 
slaves  remained  standing  about  in  different  parts  of 
the  room  ready  to  obey  any  summons  of  their  mistress. 

She  expressed  her  regret  at  being  unwell,  and  con 
sequently  unable  to  receive  the  visitors  below ;  but 
the  Oriental  picture  that  she  presented,  thus  reclining 
and  thus  surrounded,  was  far  more  interesting  and 
attractive  than  it  could  otherwise  possibly  have  been. 


TURKISH    FEMALE    DRESS.  93 

She  appeared  to  be  pleased  with  a  visit  by  persons 
of  the  far  oif  land  of  the  New  World,  and  asked 
about  as  many  questions  concerning  America,  as  they 
did  of  her  country. 

They  found  her  quite  intelligent,  and  her  manners 
easy  and  lady-like. 

Women  in  the  Turkish  harems  generally  spend 
their  time  in  luxurious  indolence ;  but  she  evinced  a 
great  fondness  for  useful  occupations.  She  mani 
fested  considerable  interest  in  her  slaves,  and  teaches 
them  the  art  of  embroidery,  £c.  Many  of  the  slaves 
were  skilled  in  music,  and  one  of  them,  during  the 
visit,  played  several  Italian  and  Turkish  airs  on  the 
piano.  For  the  gratification  of  our  friends,  several  of 
the  most  elegant  dresses  of  Madame  Fuad's  wardrobe 
were  exhibited,  all  of  which  were,  of  course,  made  in 
the  loose  and  flowing  style  of  the  East. 

The  Turkish  female  dress  cannot  be  called  graceful ; 
it  can  be  made  beautiful  by  rich  working  and  material, 
but  the  cut  of  it  is  awkward. 

It  is  very  loose,  and  so  long  as  to  make  it  trail  a 
foot  or  two  on  the  floor :  it  is  brought  together  just 
above  the  waist,  by  a  Cashmere  sash.  In  walking  out 
the  skirts  are  festooned  up  at  the  sides. 

The    "  Bloomer,"    or   as   some    designate   it,  the 


94  FEMALE    SLAVERY. 

"  Turkish  dress,"  adopted  by  a  few,  very  few,  bold 
ladies  in  America,  bears  no  possible  resemblance  to 
the  real  article. 

The  slaves  all  appeared  to  be  quite  happy  and  con 
tented,  and  more  like  daughters  of  their  mistress 
than  as  her  property.  In  fact,  female  slavery  in 
Turkey  is  a  mere  nominal  thing ;  the  bondsmaid  is 
taught  every  accomplishment,  and  frequently  thereby 
marries  the  highest  officer  of  the  realm.  The  young 
Circassian  slave  who  afforded  our  friends  the  musical 
entertainment,  has  since  been  married  to  Fuad  Effen- 
di's  son. 

At  a  first  glance  we  would  be  inclined  to  pity  the 
poor  girl,  fancying  her  forcibly  torn  from  her  unwil 
ling  and  distressed  parents,  and  sold  into  degrading 
servitude ;  but  when  we  reflect  that  she,  whilst  still 
young,  among  her  own  kindred  and  amid  her  own 
mountain  wilds,  eagerly  longs  for  the  day  that  will 
bring  her  to  this  great  Eastern  capital,  to  be  sold  into 
such  luxurious  captivity,  where  she  is  cheered  too  by 
the  bright  beacon  of  hope,  we  cease  to  commiserate. 

Madame  Fuad  was  very  anxious  to  know  our  prac 
tices  concerning  matrimony;  whether  it  was  cus 
tomary  with  us  to  make  the  bride  handsome  presents, 
and  whether  a  marriage  is  negotiated  bv  others  than 


REFRESHMENTS.  95 

the  parties  immediately  interested,  as  is  the  custom  in 
Turkey. 

Our  friends  noticed  the  latticed  windows  which 
screen  the  inmates  of  the  harem  from  the  observation 
of  outside  barbarians  ;  from  the  interior  a  person  can 
observe  everything  that  is  transpiring  without ;  and  as 
an  opera-glass  lay  on  the  satin  couch  near  Madame 
Fuad,  we  can  well  imagine  how  the  fair  occupants  of 
those  harems  which  overhang  the  Bosphorus,  amuse 
themselves  by  watching  the  ever-varying  objects  upon 
its  surface. 

After  many  social  interchanges,  her  ladyship  being 
pressing  in  her  invitation  to  them  to  repeat  their  visit, 
our  friends  descended  into  a  magnificently  furnished 
apartment,  where  they  were  regaled  with  sherbet, 
brought  to  the  door  by  the  aforementioned  black 
eunuch,  and  from  thence  by  Circassian  slaves  to  the 
guests ;  each  slave  bearing  a  white,  gold-embroidered 
napkin.  When  the  refreshment  was  served,  the  at 
tendants  placed  their  hands  on  the  lower  part  of  their 
breasts,  and  retreated  backward  for  a  few  paces,  with 
their  faces  toward,  and  their  eyes  fixed  upon,  the 
guests. 

The  conversation  with  Madame  Fuad  was  main 
tained  through  the  assistance  of  Mrs.  Brown  and  her 


96  FUAD     EFFEXDI. 

beautiful  Greek  maid,  Constantine ;  Mrs.  B.  trans 
lating  the  English  into  Greek,  Constantine  the  Greek 
into  Turkish,  and  vice  versa. 

The  ladies  now  made  their  way  toward  the  Salam- 
nik,  or  male  portion  of  the  house,  followed  by  several 
of  the  slaves,  whose  eagerness  (caused  by  curiosity) 
in  pushing  forward,  called  forth  the  restraining  inter 
ference  of  the  black  eunuch.  This  dark  mass  of  flesh 
appeared  to  be  the  guardian  spirit  of  the  Harem. 
He  keeps  the  keys,  and  without  his  co-operation  the 
women  can  pass  neither  out  nor  in. 

In  the  reception-rooms  we  all  once  more  met. 

His  Excellency,  Fuad  Eflendi,  had  made  his  ap 
pearance  whilst  our  friends  were  in  the  Harem,  and 
with  him  we  had  been  enjoying,  for  half  an  hour, 
several  relays  of  pipes. 

He  was  extremely  sociable,  and  expressed  very  libe 
ral  and  enlightened  political  sentiments. 

Being  well  educated,  speaking  the  French  language, 
and  having  travelled  extensively  on  the  continent,  he 
had  acquired  quite  a  fund  of  information,  and  a  very 
clear  and  intelligent  idea  of  the  workings  of  other 
governmental  systems.  He  is  imbued  with  that 
spirit  which  is  calculated  to  work  radical  reforms  in 
the  Ottoman  Empire,  and  assimilate  it  with  civilized 
Europe. 


DEPARTURE.  97 

After  parting  with  our  kind  host,  we  wandered  over 
his  large  and  beautiful  garden,  where  every  species  of 
shrubbery  flourished. 

Near  the  summit  of  the  hill,  in  the  rear  of  his 
house,  which  commands  a  fine  view  of  the  Bosphorus, 
the  castles  of  Europe  and  Asia,  Constantinople,  the 
Marmora,  Seraglio  Point,  &c.,  he  has  had  excavated 
a  miniature  lake,  an  island  occupying  its  centre,  and 
connected  with  the  main  land  by  a  small  rustic 
bridge. 

This  lake  was  to  be  supplied  with  water  from  the 
mountain,  which  will  tumble  into  it  over  rocks  of  lava. 

On  the  margin  of  the  lake  is  a  little  thatched  Swiss 
cottage,  which  adds  greatly  to  the  picturesqueness  of 
the  scene. 

Further  down  the  hill  are  mammoth  cages,  con 
taining  hundreds  of  birds  of  the  most  varied  and  de 
licate  plumage ;  whilst  here  and  there  lay  statues  and 
broken  shafts  from  Egypt ;  stalactites  from  Broussa, 
&c.,  all  of  which,  duly  arranged,  will  adorn  those 
beautiful  grounds. 

Once  more  at  the  palace  gate,  and  soon  in  our 
caique,  we  left  those  enchanting  scenes  behind,  which 
will  ever  linger  in  our  memories  like  a  bright  and 
beauteous  dream, 

9 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  European  Passport  System — Its  Annoyances — Unsuspicious- 
ness  of  the  Turks — The  Sultan's  Firman — A  Translation  of  it, 
showing  the  Peculiar  Style  of  Oriental  Verbiage — Travelling  in 
Turkey — Use  Horses  and  Mules — The  Camel — Transportation  of 
Merchandize — Picturesque  Effect  of  a  Caravan  of  Camels — Mag 
nificent  Steeds — Scarcity  of  the  Full-blooded  Arab — A  Ride  to 
the  Village  of  Belgrade — A  Beautiful  and  Diversified  Scene — 
Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montague — Grand  Aqueduct  of  Justinian — 
The  Valley  of  Buyucd6re  —  Godfrey  de  Bouillon  —  Return  to 
Therapia. 

IN  civilized  Europe,  out  of  Great  Britain,  the  pass 
port  system,  to  use  rather  an  unrefined  expression,  is 
a  perfect  bore.  On  leaving  one  country  you  must 
have  the  vise*  of  the  representative  of  the  govern 
ment  whose  territories  you  next  intend  entering ; 
you  must  have  the  police  vis£,  and  that  of  the  Ame 
rican  Consul ;  and  in  some  parts  of  Italy  (Florence, 
for  instance),  when  you  wish  to  remain  any  consider 
able  length  of  time  in  a  city,  it  is  necessary  to  pro- 


THE   SULTAN'S   FIRMAN.  99 

cure  from  the  Prefect  of  Police  a  carti  di  soggiorno, 
or  card  of  sojourn. 

All  this  causes  much  difficulty,  delay,  and  inconve 
nience  ;  especially  in  a  country  that  is  cut  up  into 
small  principalities. 

We  should  congratulate  ourselves  that  in  this  free 
and  happy  country  we  can  journey  in  all  directions 
without  the  eternal  annoyance  of  a  passport ;  without 
watchful  military  officials  asking  us  whence  we  came, 
or  whither  we  are  bound ;  or  without  being  suspected 
of  a  disposition  and  the  ability  to  cause  a  revolution 
or  upset  a  government. 

To  enter  Turkey  does  not  invariably  render  the 
presentation  of  a  passport  necessary  ;  in  fact  the 
Turks  are  much  less  particular  and  suspicious  in  re 
gard  to  travellers,  than  any  other  people  among  whom 
we  journeyed,  with  the  exception  of  course  of  the 
English.  When  intending,  however,  to  traverse  the 
dominions  of  the  Sultan,  it  is  advisable  to  procure 
what  is  termed  a  firman.  With  this  you  can  travel 
with  impunity  from  one  end  of  the  empire  to  an 
other. 

As  this  document  is  written  in  the  peculiar  style  of 
Oriental  diction,  I  herewith  subjoin  a  translation 
of  it. 


100  A     TRANSLATION. 

At  the  head  of  the  paper,  in  large  characters, 
stands  the  Toogha  or  monogram  of  the  present  Sove 
reign,  containing  the  following  words  : 

"  SULTAN  ABDUL  MEDJID,  SON  or  SULTAN  MAH- 
MOUD — May  His  Reign  continue  ever  victorious  ! 

"  PRIDE  of  the  DOCTORS  of  HOLY  WISDOM — the 
NAIDS  and  MUFTEES  of  the  KAZAS  (districts)  situated 
on  the  route  from  MY  SUBLIME  GATE  to  the  places 
hereafter  mentioned. 

"  PRIDE  of  their  EQUALS  and  COMPEERS,  the  EX 
ECUTIVE  OFFICERS  and  other  PROVINCIAL  CHIEFS, — 
may  their  power  be  augmented  ! 

"  On  the  receipt  of  the  present  EXALTED  IMPERIAL 
and  NOBLE  CYPHER  (monogram)  be  it  known  to  you, 
that  the  LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  of  NORTH 
AMERICA,  resident  at  MY  GATE  of  FELICITY,  has  re 
presented  in  a  sealed  note,  that  the  AMERICAN  GEN 
TLEMAN  (literally  Bey  ZadeJi  or  Prince  Born),  named 

Mr. ,  has  formed  the  design  of  travelling, 

for  his  own  pleasure,  to  Egypt,  Syria,  Palestine,  and 
the  other  countries  in  their  neighborhood,  requesting 
that  the  present  NOBLE  ORDER  be  issued  in  his  be 
half,  for  his  protection  and  assistance  whilst  on  said 
journey. 


TRAVELLING    IN    TURKEY.  101 

"  Therefore  You,  who  are  the  aforementioned  OF 
FICERS,  will  be  careful  and  attentive  that  the  AME 
RICAN  GENTLEMAN  aforesaid,  whilst  on  his  way  to 
and  from  the  places  previously  stated,  as  well  as  at 
any  places  where  he  may  be  pleased  to  stop,  be  not, 
contrary  to  IMPERIAL  TREATY  between  the  UNITED 
STATES  of  AMERICA  and  TURKEY,  incommoded  by  a 
demand  for  the  payment  of  any  taxes  or  dues,  or  any 
imposts  whatsoever  ;  nor  be  in  any  manner  whatever 
molested ;  that  he  be  protected  and  aided,  be  expe 
dited  on  his  way,  peaceably  ;  and  in  case  of  need  that 
he  be  supplied  with  provisions  at  the  current  prices. 

"  This  is  MY  IMPERIAL  WILL  and  MY  ROYAL 
COMMAND,  and  in  this  sense  the  present  NOBLE  FIR 
MAN  has  been  issued.  Be  You  therefore  attentive  to 
the  execution  of  its  contents. 

"  THIS  KNOW  and  place  entire  confidence  on  the 
genuineness  of  the  NOBLE  CYPHER  at  the  head  of 
this  FIRMAN. 

"Written  in  the  City  of  CONSTANTINE  (Kanstan- 
tineh)  in  the  MIDDLE  IDES  of  the  MOON  of  MOHA- 
NEEN,  and  the  1269th  year  of  HEGIRAH." 

Travelling  in  the  East  is  generally  performed  on 


102  THE    CAMEL. 

horses  and  mules,  as  the  roads  are  too  rough  for 
wheeled  vehicles,  and  the  shrill  whistle  of  the  locomo 
tive  has  Dot  yet  awakened  an  echo  in  the  valleys  and 
forests  of  either  European  or  Asiatic  Turkey ;  it  is 
consequently  attended  with  much  fatigue,  especially 
if  you  use  post  horses,  with  which,  changing  every 
twelve  or  fourteen  miles,  you  can  make  a  distance  of 
about  eighty  miles  a  day. 

You  pay  so  much  an  hour,  and  the  speed  at  which 
you  go  depends  pretty  much  upon  the  amount  of 
baksheesh  (presents)  you  give  the  surroudjee  or 
postilion. 

The  camel  is  an  animal  that  particularly  arrests 
the  attention  of  the  traveller  in  the  East. 

In  Turkey  it  is  mostly  used  for  the  transportation 
of  merchandize.  Large  caravans  of  camels  may 
often  be  seen  filing  into  Constantinople,  laden  with 
the  rich  commodities  of  Persia  and  Arabia. 

Nothing  can  be  more  novel  and  picturesque,  more 
truly  JEastern,  than  the  sight  of  a  caravan  of  camels, 
moving  slowly  but  steadily  along,  each  animal  accom 
panied  by  a  venerable  Turk  or  Arab,  his  long  beard 
sweeping  his  breast,  his  ancient  turban,  his  ample 
garments,  and  his  rich  Persian  scarf  bristling  with 
Damascus  blades. 


MAGNIFICENT    STEEDS.  103 

The  horses  of  Turkey,  being  descended  from  the 
Arab  are  finely  shaped,  full  of  mettle,  and  very  swift. 
Even  the  most  ordinary  riding  horse  that  can  be  hired 
for  a  few  piasters  at  the  foot  of  the  steep  hill  of  Pera, 
to  carry  you  to  the  summit,  is  a  fine-looking,  sprightly 
animal.  But  walk  into  the  stables  of  the  Sultan  or 
grandees,  or  witness  a  grand  ceremony,  such  as  the 
Sultan  going  to  mosque,  or  such  an  one  as  that  which 
occurs  once  a  year  within  the  walls  of  the  Old  Sera 
glio  during  the  celebration  of  the  Bairam,  on  which 
occasion  all  the  principal  officers  of  the  realm  are 
mounted,  and  you  can  behold  some  of  the  most  mag 
nificent  steeds  in  the  world ;  full  of  grace  and  noble 
bearing,  as  beautiful  in  their  form  and  action  as, 
under  the  circumstances  last  referred  to,  they  are  in 
their  rich  caparisons. 

It  is  astonishing  at  what  a  low  price  a  good  horse 
may  be  purchased,  an  excellent  one  being  obtainable 
for  eighty  dollars.  The  real,  full-blooded  Arab 
horse  is  scarce  even  in  Constantinople,  and  the  Sultan 
himself  owns  but  few. 

Whilst  we  were  there,  an  English  gentleman,  Col. 
Williams,  arrived  from  the  frontiers  of  Turkey  and 
Persia,  where  he  had  been  acting  as  a  commissioner 


104  VILLAGE     OF    BELGRADE. 

to  settle  the  boundary  between  the  two  countries, 
bringing  with  him  several  full-blooded  Arab  steeds, 
which  he  intended  sending  to  England. 

We  fully  tested  the  merits  of  the  Eastern  horses 
by  taking  many  rides  over  the  European  hills  adja 
cent  to  the  Bosphorus,  and  through  the  lovely  val 
leys  opening  into  it. 

One  of  these  rides  was  to  the  village  of  Belgrade, 
where  formerly  resided  the  accomplished  Lady  Mon 
tague,  and  from  whence  so  many  of  her  charming 
letters  were  written. 

The  first  part  of  our  road  wound  along  the  border 
of  a  valley,  smiling  with  the  verdant  luxuriance  of 
summer.  Deep,  overhanging  foliage,  screened  us 
from  the  rays  of  the  morning  sun,  until,  when  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  valley,  we  ascended  a  hill,  from 
the  summit  of  which  we  enjoyed  a  most  delightful 
prospect. 

Anteriorly  the  Black  Sea,  overhung  by  heavy 
clouds,  presented  its  dark  bosom  to  our  view ;  in  sin 
gular  relief  with  which  the  old  Genoese  Castle,  occu 
pying  the  remotest  Asiatic  hill,  exhibited  a  mingled 
and  sublime  scene  of  gloom  and  ruin. 

On  the  right,  far  below  us,  the  charming  Bosphorus 


GODFREY    DE    BOUILLON.  105 

laved  the  opposing  shores  of  the  two  continents,  whilst 
the  clear  horizon  in  the  rear  was  fringed  by  the 
mosques  and  minarets  of  old  Stamboul. 

We  enjoyed  an  ever- varying  view  of  these  beau 
teous  scenes  on  attaining  the  summit  of  each  suc 
ceeding  hill,  until  we  galloped  into  the  lovely  village 
of  Belgrade ;  lovely  in  the  picturesqueness  of  its 
situation  and  its  rural  quietude. 

The  house  in  which  Lady  Montague  lived  is  still 
standing,  but  exhibits  unmistakable  evidences  of  the 
ravages  of  time. 

On  our  return  from  Belgrade,  we  passed  under  the 
grand  Aqueduct  of  Justinian,  which,  with  a  double 
row  of  arches,  stretches  across  the  upper  portion  of 
the  valley  of  Buyucdere. 

In  the  lower  part  of  this  luxuriant  valley,  charm 
ing  not  only  on  account  of  the  beauty  that  nature 
has  lavished  upon  it,  but  also  because  of  the  gaudy 
and  picturesque  costumes  of  its  indwellers,  flourish 
four  or  five  magnificent  plantain  trees,  under  whose 
ample  boughs,  it  is  said,  GODFREY  OF  BOUILLON  en 
camped  with  his  army  of  Crusaders  in  1096. 

This  section  of  the  valley  is  a  favorite  resort  for 
the  romantic  youth  of  Buyucde're  when  "the  silent 
hour  of  eve  steals  on." 


106  RETURN    TO    THERAPIA. 

From  thence,  keeping  our  course  over  the  beautiful 
road  that  winds  along  the  circuitous  shores  of  the 
Bosphorus,  we  soon  reached  our  temporary  residence 
in  the  village  of  Therapia. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

Mahomet's  Injunctions  as  to  Cleanliness — Ample  Provision  for  a 
Supply  of  the  Aqueous  Element — Magnificent  Baths,  Fountains, 
Aqueducts,  &c. — Bends  of  Belgrade — Doing  in  Turkey  as  the 
Turkeys  do— Go  through  the  Ordeal  of  a  Turkish  Bath— The 
Preparation  Room — Change  of  Dress — Turkish  Towels — Wooden 
Clogs — Enter  a  Room  of  Higher  Temperature — After  Preparation 
of  the  System  enter  a  still  hotter  Room — Primitive  Costume — 
The  Operator — His  Manipulating  and  Kneading  Process — Sore 
Effects. 

OF  all  the  injunctions  enforced  by  Mahomet  upon 
his  devoted  followers,  there  is  no  one,  save  his  precept 
urging  them  to  constant  prayer,  so  rigidly  adhered  to 
as  that  wherein  he  recommends  the  frequent  ablution 
of  the  body  in  water. 

For  the  latter  purpose,  as  also  for  furnishing  an 
abundant  quantity  of  the  pure  element  as  a  beverage, 
ample,  provision  is  made  within  and  around  Constanti 
nople  by  the  construction  of  numerous  and  magnifi 
cent  baths  and  fountains,  as  also  extensive  reservoirs 
and  aqueducts  for  their  supply. 


108  TURKISH    BATH. 

Every  one  who  visits  the  neighborhood  of  the  great 
Eastern  Capital  is  struck  with  the  number,  the  vast- 
ness,  and  architectural  beauty  of  the  "Bends  of  Bel 
grade,"  and  the  immense  aqueducts  that  convey  their 
waters  into  the  city. 

The  Baths  are  circular  buildings.  Some  of  those 
in  the  city  proper  are  quite  large,  and  the  interior 
arrangements  of  them  all  are  admirably  adapted  to 
the  purpose  for  which  they  are  used. 

Notwithstanding  I  had  heard  terrible  accounts  of 
the  severe  rubbing  and  ducking  with  which  I  would 
be  inflicted,  still,  acting  in  accordance  with  the  old 
maxim,  "when  in  Turkey,  do  as  the  Turkeys  do,"  I 
made  bold  to  go  through  the  ordeal  of  a  regular 
Oriental  bath ;  and,  in  order  to  impart  to  the  reader 
a  correct  idea  of  the  general  plan  of  the  interior  of  a 
bathing  establishment,  as  well  as  the^  bathing  process, 
I  cannot  do  better  than  furnish  a  short  account  of 
my  experience. 

The  first  or  preparation  room  into  which  my  bath 
attendant  conducted  me,  was  a  large,  circular  apart 
ment,  with  an  arched  ceiling,  which  had  a  skylight 
in  the  centre.  A  gallery,  which  extended  around 
three-fourths  of  the  room,  was  provided,  at  convenient 


TURKISH    TOWELS.  109 

distances  from  each  other,  with  mattresses  for  the  en 
joyment  of  a  siesta  after  the  fatigues  of  the  bath. 

In  this  gallery  I  changed  my  street  habiliments 
for  others  more  appropriate  to  the  occasion,  the  latter 
merely  consisting  of  a  couple  of  large  Turkish  towels 
properly  adjusted. 

Specimens  of  these  celebrated  towels  took  the  pre 
mium  at  the  World's  Fair,  at  London.  On  one  side 
they  have  a  raised  surface  which  renders  them  ad 
mirable  absorbents. 

Putting  on  a  pair  of  wooden  clogs,  which  had  heels 
and  soles  some  two  or  three  inches  high,  to  protect 
the  feet  from  the  warm  marble  floors,  I  descended 
from  the  gallery,  and  after  many  desperate  efforts  to 
keep  said  clogs  under  my  feet,  and  much  difficulty  to 
avoid  scattering  the  fire  and  tobacco  of  a  dozen  pipes 
that  stretched  out  on  the  floor  from  the  mouths  of  as 
many  smoking  Turks,  I  succeeded  in  gaining  another 
and  smaller  chamber,  possessing  a  much  higher  tem 
perature  than  the  former. 

Here,  on  a  mattress  spread  over  a  marble  plat 
form,  I  was  under  the  necessity  of  reclining  for  about 
fifteen  minutes,  so  as  gradually  to  prepare  my  system 
for  the  endurance  of  the  still  higher  temperature  of 

10 


110  PRIMITIVE    COSTUME. 

the  next  apartment,  into  which  my  Turkish  attendant 
now  led  me. 

The  atmosphere  of  this  room  was  so  warm  and 
close,  that  it  materially  affected  the  respiration,  and 
caused  the  perspiration  to  ooze  from  every  pore. 

There  I  was,  attired  something  like  our  first  great 
ancestors  were  in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  just  after  they 
had  partaken  of  the  forbidden  fruit ;  a  single  towel 
supplying  the  place  of  the  fig  leaf. 

In  this  primitive  state  I  wras  laid  out,  sans  cere- 
monie,  in  a  supine  position,  nothing  but  a  blanket 
separating  me  from  the  decidedly  hot  marble  eleva 
tion  upon  which  it  was  spread. 

The  operator,  a  stalwart  Turk,  whose  simplicity  of 
attire  equalled  my  own,  now  prepared  for  action. 

Kneeling  over  me,  he  commenced  by  pressing 
gently  on  each  rib,  and  the  intercostal  spaces,  using 
both  hands  at  the  same  time.  Gradually  the  pressure 
increased,  his  well-practised  fingers  being  introduced 
between  the  ribs  in  rather  an  insinuating  manner. 

After  continuing  this  manipulation  sufficiently  long 
to  make  me  feel  peculiarly  tender  in  that  region,  he 
commenced  a  kneading  process  just  below  the  ribs, 
and  his  manual  exercises  over  the  epigastric  and  hy 
pochondriac  regions,  almost  convinced  me  that  I  was 


KNEADING    PROCESS.  Ill 

in  a  bakery,  the  proprietor  of  which  had,  in  a  sudden 
,fit  of  absence  of  mind,  taken  me  for  a  batch  of  dough, 
which  he  wished  to  work  up  as  thoroughly  as  possible. 
However,  the  increased  energy  of  action,  on  account 
of  the  sore  effects  it  produced,  both  muscular  and 
visceral,  soon  made  me  fully  aware  that  I  was  not  a 
mass  of  dough.  Nevertheless,  I  endured  all  with  as 
much  grace  and  forbearance  as  possible,  only. mani 
festing  my  appreciation  of  such  bodily  torture  by  an 
occasional  wry  face,  and  a  little  muscular  writhing. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

Bath  continued — ;i  A  Used-np  Man" — A  Delicious  State  of  Sus 
pense — Not  Quite  Washed  Away — Rough  Scrubbing — Skinned 
Alive — Hold! — Enough! — "Macaroni" — A  Coat  of  Lather — Al 
most  Suffocated — The  Bath  Finished — Mummy  Costume — Siesta — • 
Remedial  Advantages — Obesity  of  the  Turks — Number  of  Bathing 
Establishments — Fountains — Expressive  Inscriptions — Bounty  of 
the  Mahomedan  Sultans — Propitiating  the  Prophet  and  Pur 
chasing  the  Joys  of  Paradise. 

AFTER  having  cracked  sundry  joints  and  com 
pletely  unstrung  every  fibre  within  me,  rendering  me 
altogether  "a  pretty  well  used-up  man,"  my  perse 
vering  operator  varied  the  entertainment  by  carrying 
me  into  a  small  antechamber,  where,  from  a  fountain 
built  in  the  wall,  flowed  a  constant  stream  of  water, 
under  which  he  placed  me  and  then  left!  Just 
imagine  my  feelings  for  the  next  ten  minutes,  during 
which  time,  in  consequence  of  the  attendant's  ab 
sence,  I  was  kept  in  a  delicious  state  of  suspense  as 
to  what  would  next  ensue,  and  in  regard  to  the  length 
of  time  I  would  have  to  remain  in  that  small  room, 


ROUGH     SCRUBBING.  113 

which,  under  the  circumstances,  began  to  assume  the 
appearance  of  a  cell,  in  which  the  semi-barbarous 
wretch  had  incarcerated  me  ?  But  now  he  has  re 
turned,  and  having  discovered  (to  his  great  astonish 
ment  no  doubt)  that  I  am  still  alive  and  have  not 
been  washed  away,  he  again  takes  me  in  hand. 

He  removed  me  from  under  the  cascade,  and,  with 
his  right  hand  covered  with  a  coarse  woollen  glove, 
he  commenced  such  a  vigorous  scrubbing  over  various 
parts  of  the  body  as  to  make  me  entertain  serious 
apprehensions  that  I  would  pretty  soon  be  fairly 
skinned  alive ! 

I  would  fain  have  cried  "Hold!  enough!"  but  of 
what  avail  would  these  or  any  other  Christian  exclama 
tions  have  been  with  a  Moslem,  acquainted  only  with 
his  own  wild  mother  tongue  ? 

My  only  alternative,  as  in  the  former  case,  was  to 
philosophically  "grin  and  bear  it,"  though  the  rub 
bing  increased  in  intensity,  and  though  successive 
rolls  of  the  epidermis,  in  the  baths  familiarly  termed 
"macaroni,"  were  triumphantly  laid  out  in  parallel 
lines  before  my  bewildered  gaze !  After  this  truly 
refreshing  and  agreeable  occupation  had  been  con 
tinued  sufficiently  long  to  leave  me  but  a  slight  cuti- 
cular  investment,  I  was  as  completely  covered  with  a 
10* 


114  MUMMY    COSTUME. 

thick  lather  of  soap  as  an  Angola  sheep  is  with  wool; 
this  was  washed  off  by  a  Niagara  of  water,  which,  with 
the  lather,  entering  the  nostrils  and  causing  the 
mouth  to  be  closed  to  prevent  a  similar  ingress  there, 
came  near  producing  suffocation. 

With  joy  I  now  learned  that  the  bath  was  finished, 
and  after  being  enveloped  like  an  Egyptian  mummy, 
in  the  aforementioned  towels,  with  one  bound  around 
my  head  in  the  form  of  a  turban,  I  was  reconducted 
into  the  large  apartment  I  first  mentioned. 

Reclining  on  my  mattress,  with  several  long- 
bearded  Mussulmans  around  me,  who,  robed  in  the 
same  antiquated  style,  were  enjoying  themselves  in 
the  same  sans  souci  manner,  I  whiled  away  a  delicious 
hour  of  repose ;  completely  abandoning  myself  to  the 
luxurious  relaxation  consequent  upon  what  I  had  just 
passed  through,  and  regaling  myself  with  coffee,  sher 
bet,  and  pipes,  furnished  by  Greek  attendants.  Thus 
do  the  more  devout  Mahomedans  pass  whole  hours 
almost  every  day,  observing  the  commands  of  their 
Holy  Prophet  in  regard  to  cleanliness,  and  resigning 
themselves  to  a  soft  indolence  amid  the  oblivious 
influences  of  tobacco  fumes. 

We  will  not  dwell  upon  the  obvious  advantages 
arising  from  a  bath  of  the  nature  I  have  attempted 


EXPRESSIVE    INSCRIPTIONS.  115 

to  describe;  the  revulsion,  the  healthy  excitation  of 
the  various  organs,  the  action  upon  the  perspiratory 
glands,  &c. 

We  think  that  the  obesity  and  well-conditioned 
appearance  of  the  Turks  generally,  women  as  well  as 
men,  are  attributable  to  these  daily  ablutions. 

But  this  is  not  the  place  for  a  medical  dissertation. 

There  are  over  one  hundred  and  twenty  of  these 
bathing  establishments  in  and  around  Constantinople. 

The  fountains  in  the  city  and  suburbs  are  very 
numerous  and  very  beautiful ;  in  fact  they  are  among 
the  chief  ornaments  of  the  place,  and  their  style  of 
architecture  is  quite  peculiar.  On  all  of  them  are 
gold  inscriptions,  in  Arabic  characters,  on  a  blue 
ground,  original,  or  extracts  from  the  Koran ;  cele 
brating,  in  glowing  terms,  the  praises  of  the  liquid 
element. 

The  wayfarer  is  invited  to  partake  of  the  refresh 
ing  draught,  whose  virtues  far  surpass  the  waters  of 
the  well  of  Paradise.  He  is  told  that  this  particular 
fountain  was  erected  through  the  generosity  of  Sultan 
Achmet  III.,  or  that  by  the  bounty  of  Sultan  Mah- 
moud  II.,  who,  in  these  acts  of  benevolence  and 
devotion,  have  obtained  eternal  favor  in  the  eyes  of 


116  JOYS    OF    PARADISE. 

their  great  Prophet,  and  secured  for  their  souls  the 
ravishing  delights  of  Eden. 

For  the  procurement  of  such  infinite  happiness, 
every  Sultan  erects  either  a  mosque  or  fountain,  which 
bears  his  name.  He  adopts  this  mode  of  pleasing 
AUahy  as  he  cannot  conveniently  make  a  pilgrimage 
to  Mecca,  which,  performed  once  in  a  lifetime,  entitles 
the  Hadjee*  to  the  joys  of  Paradise. 

*  A  pilgrim. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

Religious  Devotion  of  the  Turks — Unjust  Condemnation  of  Them — 
Prayer  and  Charity — The  Koran — Example  for  Christians — 
Turkish  Superstition— The  "  Evil  Eye"— Charms— The  Giant's 
Grave — Fatalism  of  the  Turks — Apathy— Recklessness  in  Battle — 
Assurances  of  Happiness. 

"  GOD  is  Great  and  Mahomet  is  His  Prophet." 
Thus  exclaims  and  thus  believes  the  Moslem  devotee, 
as,  on  bended  knee  and  half  prostrate,  he  sends  up 
his  earnest  supplications  to  Allah  in  the  high 
heavens. 

When  the  call  to  prayer,  proclaimed  by  the  muez 
zin  from  some  towering  minaret,  summons  the 
faithful  to  the  worship  of  Jehovah,  whether  he  is, 
when  the  sound  falls  upon  his  ear,  amid  the  pleasure- 
seeking  crowds  which  throng  the  Valleys  of  the  Sweet 
Waters  of  Asia;  whether  in  the  presence  of  the  true 
believer  or  infidel ;  regardless  of  the  excitement 
around  him  or  the  criticising  observations  of  the 
Christian,  he  inclines  his  face  toward  Mecca,  and 


118  THE     KORAN. 

mutters  his  orisons  with  an  earnestness  and  fervency, 
peculiar  alone  to  the  worshipping  Mahomedan. 

I  have  seen  him  on  the  deck  of  the  crowded 
steamer,  as  she  ploughed  her  way  through  the  rushing 
waters ;  in  some  chosen  spot  by  the  margin  of  the 
winding  Bosphorus,  within  his  dark  shaded  cemetery, 
near  the  tomb  of  some  friend,  whose  soul  he  believed 
had  been  wafted  to  the  arms  of  Abraham ;  on  the 
hillside  and  in  the  valley,  place  himself  in  an  ador 
ing  posture,  and  become  wholly  engrossed  in  prayerful 
devotion. 

We  are  too  apt  to  condemn  the  Turk  in  toto  on 
account  of  his  peculiar  religion.  From  afar  we  gaze 
upon  and  find  fault  with  all  the  glaring  defects  of 
that  religion,  but  never  pause  to  admire  its  sublime 
truths  and  beauties. 

We  arc  shocked  at  the  Prophet's  allowing  his  fol 
lowers  a  multiplicity  of  wives,  but  fail  to  admire  the 
injunctions  which  recommend  his  votaries  to  constant 
prayer,  deeds  of  charity,  and  acts  of  love. 

The  Koran,  though  the  Bible  of  a  false  Prophet, 
contains  many  sublime  precepts,  the  strict  observance 
of  which  by  their  believers,  affords  an  example  that 
might  be  profitably  imitated  by  thousands  of  pseudo 


TURKISH    SUPERSTITION.  119 

Christians  in  reference  to  the  doctrines  of  Holy 
Writ. 

Were  the  most  of  us  as  mindful  of  the  teachings  of 
the  Son  of  God  as  the  Mahomedan  is  of  those  of  the 
Arabian  Prophet,  immorality  would  be  a  thing  almost 
unknown  among  us,  and  our  favored  land  would  uni 
versally  exult  in  the  light  of  those  Divine  Rays  that 
emanate  from  the  Great  Redeemer. 

Yet,  from  the  very  nature  of  his  belief,  the  Mus 
sulman  is  superstitious  to  a  very  great  degree  ;  with 
this  superstition,  however,  there  is  associated  a  pri 
mitive  simplicity  of  manners,  a  uniform  integrity 
and  ingenuousness,  that  challenge  admiration. 

Among  the  singular  superstitions  of  the  Turks,  the 
Arabs,  as  well  as  most  Oriental  nations,  is  crediting 
the  existence  of  the  "  Evil  Eye;"  and  the  belief  that 
certain  prayers  or  signs,  offerings  or  sacrifices,  will 
avert  its  influence. 

Amulets  are  worn  by  men  and  women,  and  sus 
pended  around  the  necks  of  the  children. 

The  brute  creation,  too,  is  protected  thus  from  evil, 
as  the  prancing  charger  is  often  seen  with  a  huge 
charm  adorning  his  forehead. 

Nor  do  they  stop  here ;  even  inanimate  things  be 
come  objects  of  solicitude,  and  it  is  no  rare  sight  to 


120  THE   GIANT'S   GIIAVE. 

see  a  dwelling  protected  from  harm  by  the  potent 
agency  of  a  string  of  onions  suspended  from  its 
eaves ! 

On  the  summit  of  the  "  Giant's  Mountain,"  there 
is  a  grave,  which  some  say  is  that  of  Joshua. 

According  to  Turkish  tradition,  this  mountain  wras 
once  inhabited  bjk a  huge  giant,  so  large  that  he  could 
sit  on  the  top  and  bathe  his  feet  in  the  Bosphorus 
which  laves  its  base. 

Whatever  may  be  the  truth  in  the  matter,  the  place 
is  held  sacred.  The  grave  is  enclosed,  and  an  aged 
Moslem  Dervish  keeps  his  constant  vigils  near  it.  It 
is  a  shrine  for  the  more  infatuated  Turks,  and  they 
often  offer  up  their  prayers  within  its  sacred  pre 
cincts. 

Near  it  hang  shreds  of  the  garments  of  those  who 
are  suffering  with  disease,  and  who  place  them  there, 
under  the  impression  that  healing  virtues  are  derived 
from  the  pious  act. 

By  the  way,  this  grave  is  not  over  thirty  feet  in 
length,  which  fact  would  seem  to  conflict  with  the 
story  that  the  diminutive  individual  in  question  could 
place  his  feet  at  the  base  whilst  sitting  on  the  sum 
mit  ;  but  the  pious  Dervish  solves  the  mystery  by  con 
tending  that  it  only  contains  the  giant's  big  toe.  A 


FATALISM.  121 

single  leaf  from  the  Koran,  or  even  a  scrap  of  paper 
on  which  are  written  verses  from  that  book,  which 
he  believes  descended  from  the  heavens,  is  highly 
cherished  by  the  Moslem  ;  with  this  about  his  person 
he  would  consider  himself  invulnerable,  and  nothing 
would  induce  him  to  destroy  it. 

Should  such  a  remnant  meet  his  observation  in  the 
public  highway,  he  would  secure  and  protect  it  as  a 
precious  jewel. 

The  Turks  are  fatalists.  They  believe  that  Allah 
has  pre-ordained  every  event,  and  a  person  will  not 
question  the  sincerity  of  this  belief  when  he  witnesses 
the  apathy  with  which  they  witness  the  progress  of  a 
disaster  of  which  they  are  themselves  the  victims. 
Frequently,  when  their  houses  are  being  demolished 
by  the  fiery  element,  instead  of  using  every  exertion 
to  extinguish  the  flames,  they  merely  stroke  their 
beards,  look  resignedly  up  to  heaven,  and  exclaim 
"  MasJiallah  !"  (In  the  name  of  God  !) 

This  doctrine  of  fatalism,  in  connection  with  the 
promise  of  Mahomet,  that  the  souls  of  all  those  who 
are  killed  in  the  defence  of  the  "  faith"  will  be  in 
stantly  transported  to  Paradise,  renders  the  Turk, 
generally  speaking,  perfectly  reckless  on  the  battle 
field. 

11 


122  FEARLESSNESS    IN    BATTLE. 

Confident  that  he  will  either  perish  or  survive  ac 
cording  to  the  previous  designs  of  Jehovah ;  fully 
satisfied  that  in  either  case  he  will  meet  a  happy  re 
ward,  in  the  former  by  being  ushered  into  the  midst 
of  the  Houris  and  Rose  Beds  of  Eden,  and  in  the 
latter  by  obtaining  the  favor  of  the  Holy  Prophet, 
he  rushes  boldly  and  fearlessly  into  the  thickest  of 
the  conflict,  unheeding  and  uncaring  for  the  personal 
consequences. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Singular  Beliefs — Hurried  Burials — Funeral  Practices — The  "  Ques 
tioning  Angel'' — The  Soul  Drawn  out  through  the  Mouth — The 
Mahomedan's  Heaven  —  Celestial  Houris  —  The  Unbeliever's 
Heaven — Prejudices  against  Christians — Religious  Liberty — The 
Turk's  Attachment  to  his  Religion — Rarity  of  his  Conversion  to 
Christianity — American  Missionaries  at  Constantinople. 

ONE  of  the  most  extraordinary  beliefs  of  the 
Turks  is,  that  the  soul  of  a  deceased  person  is  in 
agony  until  the  body  is  interred. 

On  this  account,  they  hurry  it  off  from  the  place 
of  demise  to  the  grave  as  speedily  as  possible ;  and 
it  is  indeed  a  curious  and  horrifying  spectacle  to 
witness  a  corpse,  clad  in  sepulchral  garb,  placed 
upon  a  litter,  which  is  borne  upon  the  shoulders  of 
four  men,  who  are  hurrying  the  body  rapidly  along 
to  its  final  resting-place.  The  passer-by  would  think 
that  they  were  trying  to  get  rid  of  their  friend  in  as 
summary  a  manner  as  possible. 

To  add  to  the  novelty  as  well  as  the  horror  of  this 


124  FUNERAL    PRACTICES. 

sight,  the  looker-on  can  behold  the  uncovered,  ghastly 
features,  now  rigid  in  icy  death. 

Only  the  male  friends  of  the  deceased  accompany 
his  remains  to  the  grave. 

Before  he  is  taken  from  the  house,  prayers  are 
recited  over  his  body,  and  the  ancient  usage  practised 
of  washing  the  feet. 

There  are  few,  if  any,  ceremonies  by  the  side  of 
the  grave. 

The  surviving  relatives  do  not  put  on  any  habili 
ments  of  mourning,  but  sometimes  the  men  manifest 
their  grief  for  the  loss  of  their  kindred,  by  allowing 
their  beards  to  grow  to  a  prodigious  length. 

According  to  popular  superstition,  immediately 
after  the  body  is  interred,  the  "  Questioning  Angel" 
appears  to  the  deceased,  and  propounds  certain 
interrogatories ;  asking  him  if  he  has  always  been  a 
good  Mussulman,  has  always  endeavored  to  please 
Allah,  &c.,  &c.  If  his  answers  are  satisfactory,  his 
soul  passes  gently  and  imperceptibly  from  his  body 
into  all  the  untold  delights  of  Paradise ;  but  should 
the  angel  be  displeased  with  the  responses,  the  unfor 
tunate  defunct's  soul  is  drawn  out  through  his  mouth, 
amid  the  direst  torture,  and  consigned  to  the  region 
of  eternal  darkness. 

The  Mahomedan's  heaven  is  a  place  of  ecstatic 


THE    MAHO  ME  DAN'S    HEAVEN.  125 

bliss,  where,  in  the  midst  of  the  most  perfect  beauty, 
the  "faithful"  will  enjoy  the  companionship  of 
thousands  of  the  most  lovely  and  ravishing  houris. 

The  more  obedient  they  have  been  to  Mahomet's 
commands,  the  more  beautiful  and  plentiful  are  the 
celestial  fairies  with  whose  presence  they  will  be 
blessed. 

The  Koran  assigns  a  different  heaven,  with  an 
inferior  degree  of  happiness  in  it,  to  us  poor,  outside 
unbelievers.  Regarding  us  as  "infidels,"  it  deems  it 
unreasonable  to  imagine  that  we  can  enjoy  the  same 
exquisite  felicity  as  its  votaries,  in  a  future  state. 

There  still  linger  some  of  the  ancient  prejudices 
against  Christians,  whom  the  Turks  call  giaours;* 
but  they  are  rapidly  disappearing,  and  nowT  scarcely 
ever  manifest  themselves,  save  in  some  such  fanatical 
season  as  the  holy  month  Ramazan,  which  I  have 
already  partially  described. 

As  far  as  the  Porte  is  concerned,  she  appears  to  be 
extraordinarily  well-disposed  towards  Christians ; 
allowing  them  full  religious  liberty  and  every  privi 
lege  they  might  reasonably  desire,  with  the  exception 
of  holding  landed  property,  in  their  own  names, 
within  her  dominions. 

*  A  word  of  contempt. 
11* 


126  AMEEICAN    MISSIONARIES. 

In  Pera,  the  Frank  quarter  of  Constantinople, 
there  are  several  Greek  churches,  and  in  the  chapel 
of  the  English  Palace,  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
service  is  held  every  Sunday  morning. 

The  Turks  are  remarkable  for  their  invincible 
attachment  to  their  religion,  almost  every  effort  to 
bring  them  over  to  Christianity  having  proved 
utterly  abortive.  A  single  instance,  almost  if  not 
the  only  one  on  record,  of  a  Turk's  changing  the 
faith  of  his  fathers,  occurred  whilst  we  were  at  Con 
stantinople  ;  and  it  produced  so  much  excitement 
that  the  poor  fellow  found  it  necessary  to  leave  the 
country. 

The  efforts  of  the  enterprising  and  efficient  Ame 
rican  Missionaries  in  Turkey  are  directed,  not  to  the 
conversion  of  the  Islamites,  but  the  Armenians  and 
others,  for  the  instruction  of  whose  children  they 
have  established  a  school,  wherein  are  taught  the 
English  language,  and  the  bright,  elevating  truths 
and  principles  of  Christianity. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

The  Mahomedan  Sabbath — Separation  of  the  Sexes  in  the  Mosques 
— Peculiar  Mode  of  Worship — Requirements  to  gain  Admittance 
into  the  Mosques — How  obtained — Bayard  Taylor  and  his  friend 
Harrison — Harrison  having  succeeded  in  visiting  Mecca  in  the 
guise  of  a  Turk,  attempts  to  enter  a  Mosque  in  the  same  Costume 
— Is  detected — Beats  a  Retreat — Mosque  of  St.  Sophia — A  sacred 
Repository  of  Valuables. 

IN  Turkey,  as  in  most  other  countries  whose  reli 
gion  is  a  nationality,  those  occupying  an  humble  po 
sition  in  life  are  much  more  enthusiastic  as  well  as 
sincere  in  their  religious  devotions  than  others,  who, 
by  being  in  a  more  exalted  position,  pecuniarily  or 
politically,  have  their  minds  vitiated  by  luxury  or  the 
strife  for  high  places. 

Yet  are  the  latter  far  from  lacking  respect  for,  or 
obedience  to,  the  requirements  of  their  creed. 

The  highest  dignitaries  of  the  land,  not  excepting 
the  Sultan  himself,  scarcely  ever  allow  the  sun  to 
perform  his  diurnal  circuit  without  prostrating  them 
selves  before  the  throne  of  Allah. 


128          PECULIAR    MODE    OF    WORSHIP. 

Friday  is  the  Mahomedan  sabbath.  On  that  day 
the  mosques  are  open,  and  their  matted  floors  covered 
with  the  kneeling  and  cross-legged  faithful. 

The  women  are  permitted  to  worship  in  the 
mosques,  but  are  compelled  to  form  themselves  into  a 
distinct  group,  somewhat  remote  from  the  men. 

Though  the  Mufti  sometimes  officiates,  yet  fre 
quently  no  one  acts  in  the  capacity  of  preacher ;  each 
worshipper,  with  his  face  turned  toward  the  Holy  City, 
serving  the  Most  High  in  any  manner  that  corre 
sponds  with  his  individual  inclination. 

It  is  a  very  novel  sight  to  see  a  large  number  of 
Mussulmans  engaged  in  their  peculiar  devotions. 

Whilst  some  are  kneeling  with  their  eyes  turned 
heavenward,  others  are  standing  erect,  their  arms 
crossed  over  their  breasts ;  whilst  others  still  are  so 
humbly  prostrated,  that  their  foreheads  touch  the 
floor — all  are  muttering  their  prayers,  and  these  dif 
ferent  postures  accord  with  the  strength  and  fervency 
of  the  different  passages  in  the  prayers. 

Every  one  who  enters  the  mosques  must  take  off 
his  shoes  at  the  door,  and  put  on  slippers. 

This  rule  is  imperative,  and  applies  to  the  believer 
as  well  as  the  unbeliever.  To  provide  for  its  observ- 


THE    MOSQUES.  129 

ance,  you  must  have  slippers  of  your  own — your  ca- 
vasse,  or  servant,  making  the  change  for  you,  and 
taking  charge  of  your  shoes  until  your  return. 

Franks  cannot  gain  admittance  into  the  mosques 
without  the  procurement  of  a  firman,  or  permit,  from 
the  Sultan. 

It  is  also  necessary  to  have  a  cavasse  of  the  Porte, 
who  acts  in  the  double  capacity  of  guide  and  guard, 
and  whose  presence  testifies  to  the  Turks  that  their 
worthy  sovereign  has  granted  you  the  privilege  of 
traversing  their  holy  sanctuaries.  With  these  accom 
paniments  you  need  not  be  under  any  apprehension 
of  being  interfered  with  by  even  the  most  fanatical. 

Strangers  obtain  the  firman  through  the  agency  of 
their  respective  Legations,  and  when  intending  to  go 
through  the  mosques,  form  a  party  of  about  a  dozen 
persons. 

On  the  occasion  of  our  visit,  we  enjoyed  the  plea 
sure  of  Bayard  Taylor's  company. 

Taylor  had  just  returned  from  his  extensive  travels 
in  Africa,  from  whence  he  had  written  many  interest 
ing  letters  to  the  New  York  Tribune. 

His  friend,  Harrison,  of  Kentucky,  who  journeyed 
with  him,  was  also  one  of  the  party. 


130  THE     TRAVELLERS. 

These  gentlemen  travelled  through  the  East  in  full 
Oriental  costume ;  and,  speaking  a  little  Arabic,  at 
the  same  time  having  suitable  personal  appearances, 
passed  muster  as  very  good  Mussulmans. 

Harrison  was  clad  a  la  Turque  when  with  us.  One 
day  he  attempted  to  enter  a  mosque  without  a  fir 
man.  He  was  flushed  with  confidence,  inasmuch  as 
he  had,  clad  in  his  Eastern  guise,  with  his  flowing 
beard,  and  smattering  of  Arabic,  succeeded  in  accom 
plishing  what  very  few  Christians  ever  have  accom 
plished,  viz.  :  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  kneeling  and 
muttering  his  prayers,  with  the  most  faithful  and 
devout.  It  so  happened  that  a  Turk  recognized  him 
as  a  gentleman  whom  he  had,  a  day  or  two  previously, 
observed  holding  a  very  animated  conversation,  in 
good  Anglo-Saxon,  with  the  American  charge ;  and 
knowing  that  none  of  his  countrymen  could  perform 
such  a  lingual  miracle  as  that,  he  made  his  way 
towards  Harrison  with  no  very  amiable  expression  on 
his  countenance. 

Our  friend,  observing  his  advance,  concluded  that 
discretion  was  the  better  part  of  valor,  and  beat  a 
retreat,  making  good  his  escape  from  the  vicinity  of 
the  mosque  ere  the  virtuous  indignation,  occasioned 
by  his  intrusion,  had  gathered  into  a  storm. 


ST.    SOPHIA.  131 

It  is  superfluous,  I  think,  to  furnish  the  reader  with 
a  description  of  the  mosques,  as  those  noble  Moslem 
temples,  that  constitute  the  chief  features  in  the 
beautiful  tableau  that  Old  Stamboul  presents  to  the 
greedy  eyes  of  the  voyager  as  he  rounds  the  Golden 
Horn,  have  been  so  frequently  and  so  faithfully 
described  by  others  more  competent  to  the  task  than 
myself. 

Who  has  not  read  of  St.  Sophia,  with  its  immense 
dome,  that  appears  to  be  suspended  in  the  heavens ; 
its  columns  of  many-hued  marbles,  and  its  ceilings  of 
mosaic  ?  Once  the  pride  of  the  Christian  world,  it 
still,  though  stripped  of  much  of  its  pristine  gran 
deur,  stands  the  acknowledged  wonder  of  the  Ma- 
homedan.  It  is  not  my  province  to  speak  of 
matters  with  which  it  is  presumed  almost  every  one  is 
familiar,  but  merely  those,  which,  from  their  apparent 
insignificance,  or  from  some  other  cause  best  known 
to  themselves,  book  writers  generally  neglect  to 
mention,  knowing  that  these  subordinate  matters 
exemplify,  as  much  as  any  other,  the  peculiar  cha 
racteristics  of  the  people  among  whom  they  exist. 

To  discover  one  of  these  peculiarities,  let  us  pause 
for  a  moment,  and  look  up  into  the  gallery  of  St. 
Sophia.  There  we  see  an  innumerable  quantity  of 


132  ST.    SOPHIA. 

boxes,  packages,  and  every  conceivable  article  of 
value ;  piles  of  money,  diamonds,  &c.  What  does  it 
all  mean  ?  The  house  of  prayer  is  assuredly  not  to 
be  converted  into  a  place  for  barter  ?  No,  these  va 
luables  are  merely  placed  there  for  safe  keeping. 
Their  owners  have  gone  on  a  pious  pilgrimage  to 
Mecca,  and  have  left  their  property  there,  under  the 
firm  conviction  that  no  sacrilegious  hand  will  harm  it 
during  their  absence.  There  it  is  doubly  safe,  as 
besides  not  being  exposed  to  the  dangers  of  the  de 
vastating  fires  which  so  frequently  afflict  Constanti 
nople,  it  is  impossible  for  a  Moslem  to  commit  any 
act  of  dishonesty  within  the  sacred  precincts  of  a 
sanctuary  dedicated  to  Allah  and  the  Prophet. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

The  Sultan  Going  to  and  Returning  from  Mosque — Brilliant  Pro 
cession — The  Royal  Barge — A  Moslem  Summons  to  Worship — 
The  Howling  Dervishes  of  Scutari — Their  Thrilling  Ceremonies 
— Wild  Fanaticism — Torturing  Instruments — Closing  Scenes — 
The  Whirling  Dervishes  of  Pera — Exclusion  of  the  Females — 
Learned  Patriarchs. 

THE  Sultan  going  to,  or  returning  from  mosque, 
affords  one  of  the  most  interesting,  as  well  as  im 
posing  spectacles  to  be  witnessed  in  the  Turkish 
Capital. 

He  is,  if  on  land,  mounted  on  a  magnificent  and 
richly  caparisoned  Arab  charger.  Two  or  more 
riderless  horses  follow  in  his  wake,  each  with  superb 
trappings,  and,  like  the  animal  on  which  he  rides, 
led  by  formidable-looking  grooms. 

The  Military  Body  Guard  of  His  Majesty,  and 
sometimes  a  few  high  dignitaries,  the  latter  in  the 
saddle,  form  a  part  of  the  brilliant  procession  that  at 
tends  His  Highness  on  such  occasions. 

12 


134  THE     IIOYAL     BARGE. 

On  the  Bosphorus  he  glides  in  a  highly  wrought 
caique,  propelled  by  sixteen  caiquejies,  who,  with  a 
long  simultaneous  sweep  of  the  oars,  fairly  make  the 
barge  fly  over  the  water. 

The  caique  which  he  occupies,  in  which,  cross- 
legged,  he  sits  under  a  royal  canopy,  is  preceded  by 
two  others  that  go  before  to  herald  the  approach  of 
the  "  RULER  or  THE  UNIVERSE,"  and  to  intimate  to 
all  the  boats  scattered  over  the  Bosphorus  that  His 
Excellency  must  have  a  wide  margin  to  move  in. 

"The  sound  of  the  church-going  bell"  is  unheard 
in  Constantinople  proper,  the  hour  of  worship  and  of 
prayer  being  announced  from  the  minarets  by  the 
muezzim,  whose  prolonged  cry — La  Allah;  illah,  Allah 
Mohammed  resoul  Allah  (there  is  but  one  God  and 
Mahomet  is  his  prophet),  as  it  falls  upon  the  silence 
of  eve,  has  a  truly  singular  effect. 

As  among  religious  sects  in  general,  there  are  some 
whose  peculiar  rites  distinguish  them  as  a  distinct 
division  of  the  body  ecclesiastical,  so  among  the  Ma- 
homedans  there  are  those,  who,  holding  the  same 
tenets  in  the  main,  as  the  rest  of  their  religious 
brethren,  yet  whose  still  more  singular  mode  of  wor 
ship  constitutes  them  a  separate  people. 


HOWLING    DERVISHES.  135 

I  have  reference  to  the  Howling  Dervishes  of 
Scutari  and  the  Whirling  Dervishes  of  Pera. 

It  would  be  impossible  for  pen  and  ink  to  give  an 
adequate  idea  of  the  wild  antics,  and  the  still  wilder 
guttural  sounds,  that  characterize  the  religious  exer 
cises  of  the  former,  or  the  rigid  countenances  and  pecu 
liar  rotary  motions  of  the  latter.  Each  sect  performs 
once  a  week. 

The  first  part  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  Howling 
Dervishes  is  quiet  enough  ;  principally  consisting  in 
prayer  and  an  embracing  of  each  other,  and  their 
venerable  Patriarchs,  who  occupy  a  position  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  room  corresponding  with  the  direc 
tion  of  Mecca. 

But  the  excitement  and  fervor  grow  apace  ;  a  deep 
sepulchral  howl  soon  becomes  conspicuous  in  the 
ejaculations ;  a  phrenzied  expression  sits  upon  their 
countenances ;  they  walk  with  hurried  steps,  and 
among  each  other,  in  many  a  giddy  maze  ;  wilder  be 
come  the  howls,  wilder  the  visages,  more  rapid  the 
devious  pace.  Club-shaped  instruments,  with  bul 
bous  ends  set  with  iron  points,  are  wielded  high  in 
the  air,  and  brought  down  with  great  apparent  force 
upon  their  naked  bodies ;  sharp  swords  are  driven 
into  them  by  a  cudgel's  heavy  blows ;  the  points  of 


136  WHIRLING    DERVISHES. 

heavy  iron  weapons  are  placed  upon  the  eye,  and  then 
twirled  upon  that  delicate  organ. 

At  length,  after  the  excitement  has  attained  the 
highest  pitch ;  the  cries  have  become  like  those  of  the 
raving  maniac ;  their  motions  of  unsurpassable  vio 
lence  ;  and  their  blood,  made  to  flow  by  self-inflicted 
hands,  has  crimsoned  their  bodies,  they  are  carried 
out  fainting  and  exhausted  from  the  scene  of  their 
religious  zeal. 

It  is  said  that  in  the  Barbary  States,  in  certain 
seasons,  these  Dervishes  become  so  furious  in  the 
midst  of  their  unique  performances,  that  they  rush 
out  into  the  streets,  with  the  instruments  of  torture 
in  their  hands,  and  wo  betide  the  unfortunate  son  of 
Israel  who  then  happens  to  cross  their  path ;  he  would 
almost  certainly  fall  a  victim  to  their  wild  fanati 
cism. 

The  Whirling  Dervishes  are  more  peaceable. 
Commencing  their  religious  rites  in  the  same  manner 
as  their  howling  neighbors,  they  continue  them  by  a 
steady,  whirling  motion,  with  their  arms  extended  and 
their  eyes  cast  downward. 

With  their  heads  surmounted  by  sugar-loaf  shaped, 
brirnless  hats,  and  their  loose  skirts,  whose  lower 


LEARNED    PATRIARCHS.  137 

margins,  in  the  act,  describe  a  perfect  circle,  round, 
round  they  go,  unceasingly  for  hours. 

Women  are  not  allowed  to  participate  in  the  cere 
monies  of  either  the  Howling  or  the  Whirling  Der 
vishes. 

In  the  mosque  of  the  latter  were — I  say  were,  for, 
since  our  visit  to  it,  the  mosque  has  been  destroyed 
by  fire — latticed  windows  in  the  walls,  through  which 
the  Turkish  females  peeped  at  their  rotating  mascu 
line  lords. 

I  would  here  remark,  that  the  undue  zeal  mani 
fested  by  these  strange  sects  is  condemned  by  the 
mass  of  Mahomedans  ;  and  I  would  also  do  them  the 
justice  to  say,  that  many  of  their  venerable  and 
patriarchal  members  are  men  of  great  learning  and 
research. 


12* 


CHAPTER    XXL 

Turkish  Cemeteries — Their  Vastness — Cemetery  of  Scutari — Cy 
press  Trees — Turbaned  Stones — Mingled  Scene — Carvings  and 
Inscriptions — Eyoub — Character  of  the  Epitaphs — Examples — 
Woman's  Soul. 

As  a  fitting  topic  to  succeed  what  I  have  said  about 
the  religious  devotions  and  superstitions  of  the  Turks, 
I  will  now  make  a  few  remarks  concerning  the  Ma- 
homedan  cemeteries,  whose  vastness  and  singularity 
arrest  the  attention  of  every  sojourner  at  Constanti 
nople,  causing  him  to  feel,  as  doth  almost  every  object 
his  eye  dwells  upon  in  the  Orient,  that  he  is  indeed  in 
a  strange  land,  and  amidst  a  strange  and  peculiar 
people. 

Taking  an  elevated,  central  position,  such  as  that 
on  the  top  of  the  Seraskier's  Tower,  we  command  a 
fine  view  of  numbers  of  those  almost  boundless  forests 
of  dark  cypress  trees,  within  whose  profound  shade 
the  monuments  of  millions  of  defunct  Turks  rear 
their  turbaned  heads.  We  will  discover  that  they 


TURBANED    STONES.  139 

form  a  very  distinguishing  feature  in  the  magnificent 
picture  spread  out  around  us. 

The  largest  and  most  interesting  is  the  Cemetery 
of  Scutari,  on  the  Asiatic  side  of  the  Bosphorus. 
This  cemetery  is  over  three  miles  in  length.  The 
cypress  trees,  tall  and  slender,  like  the  minarets  at 
tached  to  the  mosques,  being  thickly  planted,  and 
the  tombstones  occupying  in  some  places  almost  every 
foot  of  ground  left  vacant  by  the  trees,  render  it  an 
extremely  difficult  matter  for  a  person  to  wend  his 
way  through  these  fields  of  the  dead,  except  over  the 
main  path. 

Nothing  can  excel  the  startling  effect  of  the  dark 
mingled  view  of  tombs  and  cypress  trees. 

Many  of  the  stones  are  capped  by  the  Tarbouch, 
or  the  turban ;  the  ample  and  painted  folds  of  the 
latter  resembling  so  much  the  genuine  article  as  to 
induce  one,  on  a  hurried  glance  through  the  Champs 
des  Morts,  to  fancy  it  crowded  with  venerable  Mos 
lems  who  are  standing  as  sentinels  over  the  graves  of 
departed  friends. 

The  inscriptions,  as  well  as  the  ornamental  designs, 
are  in  relief,  and  generally  gilded. 

Many  of  the  marble  slabs  are  painted  a  gaudy 


140  INSCRIPTIONS. 

color,  their  bright  hues  affording  a  strange  contrast 
with  the  cypress'  gloomy  shade. 

Some  are  carved  and  gilded  with  much  elegance 
and  good  taste ;  but  as  a  general  thing  they  do  not 
present  an  appearance  that  corresponds  with  our  idea 
of  beauty.  Only  occasionally  you  see  them  sur 
rounded  or  protected  by  any  kind  of  enclosure ;  but 
those  at  Eyoub,  up  the  Golden  Horn,  are  first  walled 
in  and  screened  by  wire-work  that  rises  like  an  arbor 
above  them.  These  are  really  elegant,  and  are  the 
tombs  of  distinguished  characters.  Hard  by  these 
tombs  is  the  mosque  wherein  the  Sultans  of  Turkey 
gird  on  the  sword  of  Othman. 

The  epitaphs,  which  are  either  original  or  extracts 
from  the  Koran,  do  not  so  much  record  the  virtues 
of  the  deceased  as  they  furnish  admonitions  to  the 
living. 

In  order  to  give  an  idea  of  their  tone  and  senti 
ment,  I  herewith  subjoin  a  few  specimens,  translated 
from  the  Arabic,  in  which  language  they  are 
carved : — 

HIM,  THE  ETERNAL  AND  EVERLASTING! 

Death  is  a  cup,  out  of  which  all  must  drink; 

The  shroud, a  garment  in  which  all  must  be  dressed; 


INSCRIPTIONS.  141 

The  hearse,  a  carriage  in  which  all  must  ride  ; 
The  grave,  a  door  through  which  all  must  pass ; 
The  earth  is  a  home  where  all  must  dwell; 
From  God  all  came,  all  must  return  to  Him. 

Say  a  Fatha   (opening  chapter  of  the  Koran)  for    the  soul  of 
OEM  AN  AGA.     1252. 

HIM,  THE  ETERNAL! 

My  SADIKA  has  gone, 
Alas!  Alas! 
My  darling  child  has  left  me, 

Alas!  Alas! 

SADIKA  !  the  light  of  my  eyes, 
The  rose  garden  of  my  hopes, 

Has  gone  to  Paradise. 

Pray  a  Fatha  for  SADIKA,  the  daughter  of  OSMAN  BEY.     A.  H. 
1256. 

HIM,  THE  ETERNAL  AND  EVERLASTING! 

Alas !  AHMED  BEY'S  wife  has  left  this  passing  scene ; 
Unfortunate  woman,  she  had  to  forsake  her  ten  young  children ; 
May  she  be  irfTmersed  in  the  Sea  of  Mercy  of  the  All  Just ! 
With  eyes  filled  with  grief's  tears  I  write  her  epitaph; 
The  Eternal  in  His  mercy  has  taken  my  Shemsieh  Kadin. 

HIM,  THE  ETERNAL! 

Scarce  had  I  become  a  mother  and  seen  my  new-born  child, 
When  the  arrow  of  destiny  sent  my  soul  into  Eternal  Life  : 
I  left  the  garden  of  this  world  for  that  of  Paradise. 
Say  a  Fatha  for  AYESHA,  wife  of  ORMAN  EFFENDI. 


142  WOMAN'S  SOUL. 

HIM,  THE  ETERNAL! 

Passer-by,  look  a  moment  at  this  my  tomb.     If  you  are  wise,  be 
not  neglectful,  but  seek  wisdom  at  its  source  (Religion).     I  was  a 
heedless  wanderer ;  what  sorrows  have  I  not  met  with  ?     At  their 
close  I  became  earth,  and  this  stone  is  placed  above  my  head. 
IBRAHIM  EFFENDI'S  wife,  say  a  Fatha  for  her  soul. 

After  reading  the  aforegoing  epitaphs  we  would  not 
be  inclined  to  coincide  with  the  generally  entertained 
opinion  that  the  Mahomedan  denies  a  soul  to  woman ; 
though,  with  Moore,  he  may  believe  that  "reason 
and  thinking  are  out  of  her  sphere." 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

' '  Down  Among  the  Dead  Men" — Female  Resorts — Tombstones  of 
the  Females — Of  the  Janissaries — Separate  Burying  Grounds — 
Characteristics  of  the  Turkish,  Armenian,  Jewish,  &c.,  Cemeteries — 
Disinclination  of  the  Turk  to  be  Buried  in  European  Soil — His 
Belief  as  to  the  Ultimate  Fate  of  European  Turkey — Consolation 
at  the  Close  of  his  Mortal  Career — Mausoleum  of  Mahmoud  II. 

NOTWITHSTANDING  the  superstitious  nature  of  the 
Orientals,  they  appear  to  have  no  dread  of  being  near 
the  buried  dead.  On  the  contrary,  the  cemeteries 
are  among  the  favorite  haunts  of  both  men  and 
women. 

I  have  seen  those  cemeteries  which  border  on  the 
Bosphorus  filled  with  the  Turkish  females,  who, 
wrapped  in  their  gaily  colored  ferigees  and  white 
yashmaks,  formed,  amidst  the  leaning  marble  slabs 
and  cypress  trees,  many  a  picturesque  group. 

There,  with  naught  but  the  grass-covered  earth  or 
the  <»ld  marble  slab  as  carpet  or  divan,  will  they 
while  away  many  an  hour ;  chatting,  smoking,  par 
taking  of  refreshments,  surveying  themselves  in  small 


144      TOMBSTONES    OF    THE    JANISSARIES. 

mirrors,  or  watching  the  countless,  varied,  and  inte 
resting  objects  passing  before  them  on  land  and  water, 
as  well  as  the  frolicsome  evolutions  of  their  gaily 
dressed  children,  of  whom,  especially  the  boys,  they 
are  excessively  proud. 

The  tombstones  of  the  females  are  simply  distin 
guished  by  a  rose  branch  being  carved  on  them ;  and 
the  style  of  the  turban  surmounting  those  of  the  male 
denotes  the  rank  of  the  departed. 

The  stones  designating  the  graves  of  the  once 
formidable  and  bloody  Janissaries  are  clearly  distin 
guishable  by  their  being  decapitated ;  their  turbaned 
heads  having  been  struck  off  by  the  infuriated  popu 
lace,  simultaneously  with,  or  soon  after  the  destruction 
of  that  sanguinary  band. 

As  the  Turk,  the  Armenian,  the  Jew,  and  the 
Frank,  has  each  his  particular  quarter  to  reside  in, 
so  has  each  his  separate  and  distinct  section  to  be 
buried  in. 

The  tall  and  gloomy  cypress  and  the  leaning, 
turbaned  stones,  are  peculiarly  Mahomedan ;  a  hori 
zontal  position  of  the  latter,  with  a  slight  elevation 
and  rude  devices  carved  on  them,  showing  the"  trade 
or  profession  of  the  deceased,  or  circular  holes  for  the 
birds  to  slake  their  thirst  in  after  refreshing  showers, 


TURK'S    CONSOLATION    IN    DYING.        145 

characterize  the  Armenian ;  simple  marble  slabs 
lyinor  flat  on  the  ground  denote  the  Jewish  burial 

•/         G 

places ;  whilst  those  of  the  Frank  exhibit  the  usual 
features  of  a  Christian  place  of  interment  for  the 
dead. 

On  account  of  the  Turks  believing  that  European 
Turkey  will  ultimately  pass  into  the  hands  of  the 
G-iaour  or  Christian,  they  prefer  being  buried  in 
Asiatic  soil.  Hence  the  immensity  of  the  great 
cemetery  of  Scutari,  in  which  lie,  in  eternal  repose, 
as  many  bodies  as  would  correspond  in  number  with 
twenty  times  the  present  population  of  Constantinople ! 
Contemplating  the  nature  and  tendencies  of  his  re 
ligion,  we  can  well  imagine  how  repugnant  the  idea 
must  be  to  a  Turk,  that  after  he  has  bidden  farewell 
to  the  scenes  of  this  world,  his  mortal  remains  will  be 
sacrilegiously  trodden  over  by  the  rude  foot  of  the 
"infidel."  And  we  can  also  conceive  his  resigned 
expression,  when  dying,  and  the  sincere,  fervent, 
"God  be  praised"  that  comes  from  his  lips,  in  that 
solemn  hour,  when  he  realizes  the  consoling  assurance 
that  sacred  Moslem  earth  will,  for  successive  ages, 
conceal  his  body  within  its  hallowed  depths. 

In  the  city  of  Constantinople  are  several  magnifi- 
13 


146  MAUSOLEUM    OF    MAHMOUD    II. 

cent  Mausoleums,  containing  the  bodies  of  Ottoman 
Sovereigns. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  of  these  is  that  of  the 
present  Sultan's  father,  the  late  Sultan  Mahmoud; 
whose  remains  repose  therein,  enclosed  in  an  elegant 
sarcophagus,  which  is  covered  with  the  finest  shawls 
of  Persia  and  Cashmere,  and  has  its  head  surmounted 
by  a  genuine  turban  of  the  olden  time. 

The  sleepless  vigilance  of  a  pious  Mussulman 
shields  from  sacrilegious  touch  this  last  sacred  resting- 
place  of  the  "Refuge  of  the  World." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  Ramazan,  or  Holy  Month — Rigid  Observances — Religious  Fa 
naticism — Ancient  Prejudices  dying  out — Changes  for  the  better 
— Their  causes — A  Confused  Scene — Afloat — Large  Number  of 
Caiques — The  Oblivious  Turk — Female  Curiosity — The  Bazaar 
Boat — A  Polyglot  Scene — The  Great  Variety  of  Languages 
Spoken  in  the  Orient — Illumination  in  Honor  of  the  Descent  of  the 
Koran — Brilliant  Scene  at  Tophane — Constantinople  Illumined  by 
Olive-Oil-Fed  Lamps — The  Ships  in  the  Golden  Horn  lit  up. 

IN  a  previous  chapter  I  made  reference  to  the 
Ramazan,  or  Holy  Month ;  a  season  set  apart  by 
Mahomet  for  fasting,  for  prayer,  and  for  a  rigid  ab 
stinence  from  all  the  usual  indulgences  of  life. 

Religious  fanaticism  is  more  apparent  now  than  at 
any  other  season. 

The  conviction  is  more  deeply  rooted  in  the  heart 
of  the  Moslem  that  his  is  the  only  true  religion,  that 
there  is  but  one  God,  and  that  Mahomet  is  his  Prophet. 

Now  rankle  in  his  breast  those  feelings  of  enmity 
toward  the  Griaour,  that  in  former  days,  when 


148      ANCIENT    PREJUDICES    DYING    OUT. 

more  complete  barbarism  overshadowed  his  land, 
urged  him  to  wield  aloft  the  glittering  scimitar,  and 
bring  it  clown  dripping  with  the  life-blood  of  the 
dying  Christian. 

Now  do  no  sensual  gratifications  interfere  with  his 
fervent  anticipations  of  future  bliss  ;  in  fancy  he 
dwells  within  his  Moslem  heaven  ;  for  the  prayers  he 
recites,  the  self-denial  he  practises,  the  charity  he 
bestows,  his  faith  in  Allah,  his  confidence  in  Ma 
homet's  promises,  his  exhibition  of  hatred  toward  all 
infidels,  combine  to  assure  him  that  naught  but  Para 
disial  joys  await  his  wafted  spirit. 

The  prejudices  and  fanaticism  of  the  season  are, 
however,  losing  the  intensity  of  former  years.  No 
longer  is  it  hazardous  for  the  Christian  to  appear  in 
the  crowded  streets  of  Stamboul.  No  longer  is  it 
necessary,  save  on  special  occasions,  to  be  guarded  by 
some  formidably  armed  Mustapha. 

Nor  even  is  that  honorable  pioneer  of  civilization 
and  moral  advancement,  the  Christian  missionary, 
who  "goes  forth  into  all  lands,"  to  preach  the  Gospel 
of  the  Saviour  of  mankind,  molested  in  his  holy  voca 
tion,  but  preaches,  undisturbed,  his  saving  doctrines, 
within  sound  of  the  muezzim's  call  to  prayer. 


CHANGES    FOR    THE    BETTER.  149 

These  facts  exhibit  the  radical  changes  for  the 
better  that  are  gradually  taking  place  in  the  Ottoman 
Empire  ;  they  show  the  effects  of  a  European  infu 
sion  of  population  and  ideas  ;  that  antiquated  notions 
are  expiring,  their  place  being  supplied  by  new  and 
more  reformatory  ones,  which,  developing  themselves 
insensibly,  though  surely,  will,  in  course  of  time,  place 
Turkey  in  that  attitude  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth  that  her  territorial  extent  and  geographical 
position  so  eminently  entitle  her  to. 

As  I  have  already,  in  the  eleventh  chapter,  referred 
to  Medjid's  want  of  energy,  as  compared  with  his 
father,  it  is  appropriate  that  I  should  here  remark 
that  these  changes  for  the  better  of  which  I  speak, 
are  not  superinduced  by  any  direct  interference  of 
the  Sultan,  but  indirectly  by  the  free  scope  and  lati 
tude  of  speech  and  action,  which  his  liberal  policy 
gives  to  Europeans  resident  in  his  dominions. 

But  to  a  particular  incident  of  Ramazan.  On  the 
last  night  of  this  month  is  celebrated  the  descent  of 
the  Koran  from  the  heavens. 

This  celebration  we  were  so  fortunate  as  to  witness 
whilst  at  Constantinople. 

It  was  evening  ;  and  after  descending  the  "  Infidel 
*18 


150  A    CONFUSED    SCENE. 

Hill"  of  Pera,  and  working  our  tortuous  way  through  a 
perfect  labyrinth  of  Turks,  Greeks,  Jews,  Arabs, 
donkeys,  dogs,  &c.,  we  arrived  at  Tophane' ;  where, 
in  the  midst  of  the  utmost  confusion,  produced  by  the 
caiquejies  of  a  hundred  caiques,  vying  with  each 
other  which  could  scream  the  loudest  to  arrest  our 
attention,  we  managed  to  get  afloat. 

A  few  strokes  of  the  oars  carried  our  light  boat 
out  into  the  stream.  A  thousand  other  caiques  were 
shooting  about  in  all  directions,  and  the  frequent  cry 
of  "Gruardar  "Gruarda!"  called  our  attention  to  the 
interesting  fact  that  if  we  did  not  cave  our  backs  in  a 
little,  or  somewhat  incline  our  heads,  the  sharp  bow 
of  one  might  give  us  a  severe  "dig"  in  the  spine,  or 
enter  unceremoniously  into  the  cranial  region. 

But  soon  we  were  half  way  to  Seraglio  Point,  where 
we  "hauled  up"  in  the  midst  of  a  legion  of  caiques, 
all  filled  with  an  eager,  chattering,  motley  crowd  of 
men,  women,  and  children. 

In  a  boat,  on  one  side  of  us,  were  squatting  half  a 
dozen  Turkish  women  ;  an  old  Turk  was  sitting  a 
little  aft,  so  wrapped  up  in  two  absorbing  feelings,  one 
created  by  the  glorious  wreaths  of  smoke,  which  in  a 
cloud  rose  from  his  well-filled  chibouk ;  the  other  by 
the  self-satisfying  consciousness  that  six  beautiful 


THE    OBLIVIOUS    TURK.  151 

concubines  were  ever  ready  to  attend  his  bidding, 
that  he  was  almost  oblivious  of  the  excitement  and 
the  "busy  notes  of  preparation"  around  him.  He 
actually  forgot  what  he  came  out  to  see.  His  women 
though  were  not  so  idle  ;  they  were  all  astir.  If  we 
watch  them  closely,  now  that  darkness  is  quickly  fol 
lowing  in  the  footsteps  of  twilight,  and  their  hus 
band  cannot  so  easily  detect  their  improprieties,  we 
will  discover  that  they  have  withdrawn  their  yash 
maks  a  little,  so  as  to  give  themselves  a  fair  "  look 
out."  They  are  not  going  to  miss  anything,  we  may 
be  satisfied  of  that;  and  if  we  scan  those  large,  busy, 
peering  eyes  of  theirs,  and  listen  to  that  avalanche  of 
wrords,  wThilst  they  are  criticising  the  scenes  around 
them,  we  will  be  doubly  assured  of  this  fact.  An 
other  boat  near  us  was  overrunning  with  a  crowd, 
among  whom  we  could  recognize  the  representatives 
of  every  European  country.  It  was  the  Bazaar  boat, 
a  sort  of  river  omnibus.  Here  the  red  tarbouch  of 
the  Oriental,  and  the  stove-pipe  section  hat  of  the 
Frank ;  the  ample  turban  of  the  olden  time,  and  the 
peaked  head-covering  of  the  Persian,  formed  a  min 
gled  and  curious  scene. 

Here  we  heard  a  terrible  jabbering  of  Turkish, 
Greek,  Italian,  French,  &c. ;  all  these  languages  be- 


152  A     POLYGLOT    SCENE. 

ing  equally  well  spoken  by  the  party,  either  rapidly 
alternating  with  each  other,  or  all  coming  out  to 
gether  in  one  grand  volley. 

This  reminds  us  of  the  fact,  that  a  knowledge  of 
the  different  languages  is  almost  universal  among  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Frank  quarters  of  not  only  Con 
stantinople,  but  of  all  the  large  seaboard  cities  of  the 
East.  You  are  going  along  the  streets  of  Pera,  and 
notice  a  group  of  females  discussing — some  scandal  it 
may  be ;  curiosity  prompts  you  to  halt — you  observe 
closely  the  gesticulations,  the  words,  the  very  accent, 
and  make  up  your  mind  that  Italian  is  their  vernacu 
lar.  You  have  no  sooner  come  to  this  conclusion,  than 
the  conversationists  slide  imperceptibly  into  French  ; 
they  rattle  away  in  such  a  free  style,  that  you  are 
inclined  to  the  belief  that  they  have  just  arrived  from 
Paris,  where  they  must  have  lived  ever  since  they 
were  born.  Such  a  thought,  however,  is  soon  drowned 
by  a  cataract  of  Greek  ;  then  come  in  rapid  succes 
sion  Turkish,  Armenian,  &c.,  until  you  are  satisfied 
that  you  might  as  well  endeavor  to  stop  the  women 
from  talking  altogether,  as  to  detect  their  nationality. 
Why,  an  acquaintance  with  three  or  four  languages 
appears  to  be  an  innate  attribute  of  the  Perotes. 


OLIVE-OIL-FED    LAMPS.  153 

But  to  resume. 

As  far  as  the  vision  extended,  we  discovered,  on 
every  side,  that  the  Golden  Horn  and  Bosphorus 
were  literally  covered  with  boats ;  and  great  was  the 
confusion  produced  by  the  rapid  plying  of  the  oars 
and  the  unearthly  screeching  of  the  caiquejies,  in 
their  efforts  to  get  into  favorable  positions  to  witness 
the  Grand  Fete  in  honor  of  the  Descent  of  the  Ko 
ran.  When  we  cast  our  eyes  toward  Tophane',  what 
a  magnificent  and  brilliant  scene  they  rested  upon. 

All  along  the  shore  was  a  continuous  flame ;  whilst 
high  up  in  the  air,  between  the  lofty  tops  of  the 
tapering  minarets,  appeared  in  blazing  characters  the 
words,  "  MY  SOVEREIGN,  MAY  YOU  LIVE  A  THOUSAND 
YEARS  !" 

Constantinople  itself  looked  like  a  fairy  scene. 
Millions  of  diminutive  lamps,  fed  with  olive  oil,  shed 
their  brilliancy  over  the  seven  hills.  Strange  convo 
lutions,  too,  these  lights  assumed.  He  that  could 
read  Arabic  or  the  language  of  the  Turk  would  have 
been  able  to  discern,  in  those  hieroglyphics  glowing 
in  the  heavens,  sentiments  of  beauty  and  of  piety, 
borrowed  from  the  Koran,  or  generous  wishes  for 
the  prosperity  of  the  beloved  sovereign  of  the  Otto 
mans. 


154  SHIPS    ILLUMINATED. 

The  ships  in  the  Golden  Horn ;  the  ponderous  gun- 
ships  of  the  Sultan ;  and  the  steamers  that  ply  on  the 
Bosphorus,  furnished  their  quota  to  the  general  illu 
mination.  The  outline  of  each  was  easily  traced — 
the  bulwarks,  ropes,  and  masts  presenting  diverging 
lines  of  light. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 


Turkish  Soldiery- — Grand  Pyrotechnic  Display — Firing  of  Cannon — 
A  Calm — The  Royal  Barge — Sultan  Abdul  Medjid — He  Prays — 
Effulgent  Display — Annual  Presentation  of  a  new  Wife  to  the 
Sultan — Self-denial  of  his  Highness — Return  to  Shore — Ascend 
the  Heights  of  Pera — The  Turkish  Guard,  Mustapha — A  dense 
and  heterogeneous  Throng — Its  Turbulent  Elements — Dangerous 
Proximity — One  of  our  Female  Companions  alarmed — Summary 
mode  of  Stealing  a  Watch — An  exciting  Struggle — Arrive  safely 
at  Home. 

ON  the  smooth  parade-ground  that  skirts  the 
water-front  of  the  mosque  Tophand  stood  long  files 
of  Turkish  soldiers,  with  their  myriads  of  glistening 
bayonets. 

Details  from  these  were  actively  engaged  in  firing 
off  heavy  cannon,  whose  reverberating  thunders  were 
enough  to  start  Jove  from  his  "  cloud-capped  "  throne. 
A  wheel  of  vast  proportions  was  there  revolving,  and 
throwing  out  various-colored  fire;  rockets  were  fiz 
zing,  cracking,  and  scattering  their  fiery  splendors  in 
the  upper  regions  of  darkness. 


156         GRAND     PYROTECHNIC    DISPLAY. 

Nor  are  these  demonstrations  long  confined  to  To- 
pharie  ;  other  sections  catch  the  spirit,  and  soon  the 
booming  of  a  hundred  cannon  is  heard  in  all  direc 
tions.  The  leviathan  gun-ships  of  the  Sultan,  the 
war-vessels  of  Russia,  Austria,  England,  and  other 
European  nations,  that  lie  anchored  out  in  the 
stream,  add  their  thunders  to  the  mighty  roar. 

One  would  fancy  that  the  Russian  Bear  had  at 
tacked  the  Porte  in  her  own  waters,  and  that  the 
fleet  of  the  latter,  in  conjunction  with  the  "Allies," 
was  opening  its  terrible  batteries  upon  the  grim 
enemy  of  the  North. 

Had  iron  balls  been  hurled  in  as  rapid  succession 
as  one  report  of  cannon  followed  another,  and  had 
each  rocket  been  a  bomb-shell,  that  night  the  Grolden 
Horn  would  have  poured  blood  from  its  mouth,  and 
the  shattered  mosques,  palaces,  houses,  &c..  of  the 
City  of  the  Sultan,  would  have  imparted  an  awful 
feature  to  the  picture  of  the  morrow. 

But  now  there  was  a  calm ;  and  over  the  unruffled 
bosom  of  the  waters,  in  which  many  a  gem  of  light 
sparkled,  nought  could  be  heard  save  the  occasional 
splash  of  an  oar,  or  the  subdued  voices  of  the  Greeks 
urging  their  caiques  into  line,  to  leave  a  clear  space 


EFFULGENT    DISPLAY.  157 

for  the  Royal  Barge,  which  was  rapidly  approaching, 
bearing,  seated  under  a  silken  canopy,  the  "  Ruler  of 
the  Universe." 

As  though  it  had  the  wings  of  an  eagle,  away  flew 
the  Imperial  Caique  to  the  landing-place  of  Tophane ; 
where,  greeted  by  a  military  salute,  and  the  enthusi 
astic  cry  of  "  Long  live  Sultan  Abdul  Medjid  !"  the 
Ottoman  Sovereign  steps  ashore,  and  a  moment  after 
wards  is  kneeling  upon  the  matted  floo^of  the  Ma- 
homedan  Temple  hard  by,  pouring  out  his  soul's 
devotions  to  the  Great  Allah  and  His  Prophet.  Fer 
vid  were  his  prayers  that  night,  for  it  was  the  anni 
versary  of  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Book  from  the 
heavens ;  and  deeper  into  his  heart  sank  the  ever 
lasting  conviction,  that  "  God  is  Great  and  Mahomet 
is  His  Prophet." 

His  prayer  finished,  he  was  conducted  to  the  water's 
edge,  where  sixteen  lusty  oarsmen  were  ready  to 
speed  him  to  his  palace  by  the  Bosphorus  ;  and  whilst 
their  rapid  oars  were  scattering  the  parted  waters, 
we  were  bewildered  by  the  grandeur  and  ineffable 
splendor  of  the  display  around  us.  Roman  lights, 
fire-wheels,  rockets,  &c.,  imparted  a  noontide  efful 
gence  to  the  midnight  sky,  whilst  again  broke  upon 
the  ear  the  fulminations  of  a  thousand  cannon, 
14 


158  RETURN    TO     SHORE. 

Such  were  the  public  demonstrations.  Would  that 
we  could  step  with  you,  kind  reader,  across  the  portals 
of  the  Imperial  Mansion,  and  gaze  upon  the  ancient 
rites  within  its  sacred  precincts.  Interesting  indeed 
they  were,  for  on  that  night  took  place  the  presenta 
tion  of  a  new  wife  to  the  Sultan ;  one  selected  for 
her  matchless  charms  from  among  the  fairest  of  Cir- 
cassia's  daughters. 

This  ceremony  occurs  annually.  Unfortunate  gen 
tleman,  he  has  to  be  content  with  getting  a  new  wife 
only  once  a  year !  However,  let  us  moderate  our 
sympathy,  by  reflecting  that  during  the  twelve  months 
his  self-denying  Highness  can  revel  in  the  smiles  and 
caresses  of  four  odalisques,  and  between  two  and 
three  hundred  beautiful  female  slaves. 

Leaving  the  Sultan  to  the  full  fruition  of  his  joys, 
let  us  direct  our  course  towards  the  shore  ;  for  the 
iron-mouthed  monsters  have  ceased  their  din,  the 
olive-oil-fed  lamps  are  either  extinguished  or  become 
dim  by  burning,  and  the  stick  of  the  last  rocket  has 
floated  into  the  Marmora. 

We  soon  effected  a  landing.  Even  the  jostling 
together  of  a  hundred  caiques,  our  own  among  the 
number,  and  the  terrible  stride  we  were  compelled  to 


A    DENSE    THRONG.  159 

make  from  the  boat  to  the  dilapidated  quay,  failed  to 
succeed  in  furnishing  us  with  an  extemporaneous 
bath. 

We  had  now  the  heights  of  Pera  to  mount,  through 
the  narrow,  steep,  and  crooked  streets  of  that  town. 
Mustapha,  our  guard,  with  his  hand  reposing  upon 
his  venerable  sword,  marched  before  us  to  shield  us 
from  molestation.  (This  faithful  Turk  has  been  one 
of  the  guards  of  our  Legation,  at  Constantinople,  for 
many  years  ;  he  was  such  during  the  time  that  Com 
modore  Porter  was  Minister  at  the  Sublime  Porte.) 

A  crowd  pressed  forward  in  the  same  path  with  us. 
We  had  scarcely  passed  the  Turkish  Cafe',  near  the 
water,  and  neared  the  beautifully  constructed  ^nd 
gilded  Fountain  of  Tophane',  before  the  throng  be 
came  so  dense  that  we  could  scarcely  make  headway 
through  it. 

Such  a  heterogeneous,  moving  human  mass  was 
never  seen  before.  The  Christian  was  there,  curiosity 
and  a  love  of  sight-seeing  being  the  motives  that 
induced  him  to  risk  his  life  out  that  night ;  the  Mo- 
hamedan  was  there,  his  religion  having  prevented 
him  from  courting  Somnus,  ere  he  had  witnessed  the 
grand  fe'te  in  honor  of  the  Descent ;  the  Greek  was 


160  DANGEROUS   PROXIMITY. 

present,  taking  advantage  of  the  press  to  gratify  his 
thieving  propensities ;  the  wily  Persian  and  the  Jew, 
the  Bedouin  Arab,  and  the  uncivilized  Koord,  swelled 
the  human  tide.  The  confusion  of  languages  was 
worse  than  that  heard  around  the  Tower  of  Babel, 
and  the  variety  of  dress  made  that  narrow  pass  the 
kaleidoscope  of  the  costumes  of  the  world. 

The  turbulent  elements  of  this  mixed  assemblage 
soon  became  manifest;  with  no  exercise  of  volition 
on  our  part,  WTC  were  carried  forward  as  upon  a  bil 
low,  or  tossed  from  side  to  side.  A  cross  current  set 
in,  and  separated  us  from  a  portion  of  our  company, 
which  was  mostly  composed  of  ladies.  Men,  whose 
belts  presented  a  formidable  array  of  knives  and  pis 
tols  jostled  against  us,  whom  a  mere  whim  might 
have  induced  to  test  the  qualities  of  either  weapon 
upon  their  immediate  neighbors. 

Unearthly  exclamations  arose  from  the  excited 
multitude ;  they  might  have  been  curses  for  aught  we 
knew,  and  the  terrific  expressions  of  countenance,  as 
revealed  by  starlight  or  the  fitful  flame  of  a  paper 
lamp,  made  us  think  they  were. 

A  lady  of  our  company  became  alarmed ;  and  well 
she  might,  for  a  couple  of  Greeks  brushing  against 
her,  discovered  that  she  had  a  watch  in  her  pocket, 


AN    EXCITING    STRUGGLE.  161 

and,  as  the  speediest  mode  of  securing  the  treasure, 
they  actually  tore  from  her  nearly  the  whole  skirt  of 
her  dress.  Nervously  did  she  cling  to  her  husband  ; 
vigorously  did  he  endeavor  to  protect  her  from  harm, 
and  loudly  did  he  scream  for  Mustapha ;  but  Mus- 
tapha,  on  account  of  the  noise,  heard  him  not ;  good, 
easy  creature,  he  trudged  along  in  blissful  ignorance 
of  the  scenes  that  were  being  enacted  in  his  rear, 
though  he  still  mechanically  grasped  the  hilt  of  his 
sword.  At  length,  after  frightening  the  Greeks  by 
our  calls  for  Mustapha,  for  they  are  afraid  to  injure 
any  one  who  has  Turkish  protection,  and  succeeding, 
after  many  a  hearty  tug,  in  retaining  a  mere  shred  of 
the  dress  which  happened  to  envelope  the  watch,  the 
thieves  slunk  back  into  the  crowd,  and  the  most  ex 
citing,  as  well  as  the  closing  part  of  our  adventures, 
was  over. 

With  a  little  more  pushing  and  elbowing  we  suc 
ceeded,  ere  long,  in  extricating  ourselves  from  the 
throng,  and  in  half  an  hour  arrived  home,  thanking 
our  stars  that  we  had  witnessed  an  "Illumination  in 
honor  of  the  Descent  of  the  Koran,"  without  paying, 
as  a  penalty,  the  forfeit  of  our  lives. 

*14 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

The  Bairam — The  Sultan  Saluted  by  His  Wives,  and  Compli 
mented  by  the  Dignitaries  of  the  Land — A  Brilliant  Procession — 
Beautiful  Picture — The  Corban  Bairam — Great  Killing  of  Sheep. 

ON  the  first  appearance  of  the  new  moon  which 
succeeds  the  Ramazan,  the  Little  Bairam  commences. 
This  is  a  season  of  uninterrupted  pleasure  and  con 
tinues  three  days. 

Universal  hilarity  reigns ;  and,  with  a  zest  aug 
mented  by  the  privations  of  the  past  few  weeks,  the 
Turk  abandons  himself  to  every  rational  enjoyment. 

During  this  period  we  witnessed  a  grand  ceremony, 
which  annually  occurs  within  the  walls  of  the  old 
Seraglio. 

After  the  Sultan,  within  the  Harem,  had  been 
saluted  by  his  mother,  his  wives,  and  all  his  household, 
he  seated  himself  near  the  grand  entrance  of  the 
Seraglio ;  where,  surrounded  by  his  ministers, 
eunuchs,  dwarfs,  &c.,  he  received  the  compliments 


A    BRILLIANT    PROCESSION.  163 

and  congratulations  of  the  chief  dignitaries  of  the 
empire. 

The  spectacle  was  indeed  a  magnificent  one. 

A  brilliant  procession  was  formed,  composed  of  the 
Sheikh  Islam  or  High  Priest,  the  Imaams  or  Priests, 
the  Cadis  or  religious  Governors,  Secretaries  to 
Pashas,  Capidgi  Bashis,  Kislar  Aga  or  Chief  of  the 
Black  Eunuchs,  and  led  horses. 

Music  was  discoursed  by  the  Sultan's  band  as  each 
dignitary  approached,  made  his  salaam,  and  then 
prostrated  himself  to  kiss  the  hem  of  the  Sultan's 
garment.  The  richness  and  variety  of  the  Eastern 
costumes ;  the  splendid  caparisons  of  the  spirited 
Arab  horses,  the  very  saddles  being  studded  with 
diamonds  and  other  precious  gems ;  the  dignified  air 
of  the  distinguished  personages ;  the  peculiarly  Orien 
tal  manner  of  their  salutations  and  prostrations  ; — all 
combined  to  form  a  picture  whose  beauty  was  only 
surpassed  by  its  singularity. 

After  the  Sultan  had  been  complimented  by  all  the 
dignitaries,  he  proceeded  with  them,  in  grand  proces 
sion,  to  the  nearest  mosque,  where  the  illustrious 
party  was  soon  absorbed  in  devotion  to  Allah  and  the 
Prophet. 

The  Corban  Bairam  is  about  two  months  after  the 


164  GREAT    KILLING    OF    SHEEP.   . 

Little  Bairam.  This  anniversary  commemorates  the 
flight  of  Mahomet,  and  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  the 
immense  number  of  sheep  that  are  sacrificed  during 
its  continuance.  The  roads  leading  into  Constanti 
nople  are  crowded  with  flocks  of  them,  and  everybody 
eats  mutton. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

TURKISH   WEDDING. 

Marriage  negotiated  by  Female  Relatives — The  "  Fair  One  "  sought 
out  by  them — The  Baths  frequently  Visited — Courting  by  Proxy 

•  — Falling  in  Love  without  seeing  the  Object  loved — Handsome 
Presents  to  the  Expected  Bride — A  mode  of  Popping  the  Ques 
tion  Expensive  but  Convenient  to  Modest  Suitors — Assembling  of 
Friends — The  Lady  escorted  to  the  Bridegroom's  House — Festivi 
ties — Tying  of  the  Nuptial  Knot — The  Bride  and  Bridegroom  un 
seen  by  each  other  before  Marriage — Coquetting  in  the  Bridal 
Chamber. 

WHEN  a  young  Turk  desires  to  enter  into  a  matri 
monial  alliance,  he  signifies  his  inclination  to  some 
elderly  female  relative,  his  aunt  or  mother,  who  then 
makes  it  her  object  to  seek  out  some  "fair  one" 
whom  she  thinks  would  make  an  eligible  match. 

For  this  purpose  she  repairs  frequently  to  the 
Baths,  and  carefully  notes  the  form,  the  grace,  the 
eyes,  and  the  voice  of  the  young  females  who  there 
congregate  daily  to  go  through  their  ablutions. 


166  COURTING    BY    PROXY. 

Certainly  no  place  could  afford  her  better  opportu 
nities  of  acquainting  herself  with  these  matters. 

When  she  has  discovered  a  female  (by  thus  fre 
quenting  the  Baths  and  visiting  around  considerably 
among  her  friends,  under  the  latter  circumstances 
becoming  acquainted  with  the  lady's  accomplish 
ments,  her  skill  in  making  conserves,  embroidery, 
&c.),  whom  she  considers  suitable,  in  every  respect, 
for  the  young  man,  she  communicates  to  him  what 
information  she  has  been  able  to  obtain  concerning 
her. 

If  the  young  miss  suits  the  old  lady's  fancy,  she 
gives  her  son,  or  nephew,  a  glowing  and  highly 
wrought  description  of  her  charms ;  and,  as  he  is 
willing  to  defer  to  the  superior  judgment  of  his  mo 
ther,  or  aunt,  in  such  matters,  he  speedily  falls  despe 
rately  in  love  with  the  fair  incognita. 

The  old  lady  makes  frequent  visits  to  the  relatives 
of  the  proposed  bride,  whom  she  informs  of  the 
young  man's  passion.  If  they  treat  her  with  much 
kindness,  serve  her  with  refreshments,  &c.,  the  sup 
position  is,  that  the  suit  is  favorably  entertained. 

After  matters  have  thus  progressed  for  awhile, 
the  young  man  sends  a  present  to  the  young  lady, — a 
young  gazelle,  Cashmere  shawl,  Broussa  silk,  dia- 


ASSEMBLING    OF    FRIENDS.  167 

monds,  &c. ;  and  frequently,  if  he  be  very  wealthy, 
he  sends  quite  a  profusion  of  these  costly  presents, 
several  hamals  and  donkeys  being  employed  to  con 
vey  them  to  the  lady's  residence. 

The  acceptance  of  the  present,  or  presents,  by  the 
young  lady,  is  considered  equivalent  to  an  engage 
ment. 

At  length,  when  the  marriage  is  about  to  be  con 
summated,  the  friends  of  the  young  man  assemble  at 
his  house — the  males  in  the  salamnik,  and  the  fe 
males  in  the  harem — where  they  are  served  with  re 
freshments.  Soon  the  gentlemen  proceed  on  horse 
back  to  the  residence  of  the  young  lady,  whom,  she 
being  seated  on  a  donkey,  and  effectually  screened 
from  the  observation  of  pedestrians,  they  escort  to 
the  young  man's  house.  During  this  ceremony  the 
party  keep  up  a  constant  firing — every  description  of 
detonating  weapon  being  brought  into  requisition  that 
will  add  to  the  deafening  clamor. 

The  young  man  meets  his  intended  at  the  portal 
of  his  house,  and  helps  her  to  alight, — the  thick  veil 
with  which  she  is  covered  preventing  him  from  seeing 
her  face. 

She  is  now  conducted  by  the  ladies  of  the  house 
into  the  harem,  where  the  festivities  are  kept  up  to  a 


168  TYING    OF    THE    NUPTIAL    KNOT. 

late  hour.  Music,  dancing-girls,  and  refreshments 
here  add  to  the  pleasures  of  the  occasion,  whilst 
somewhat  similar  scenes  are  being  enacted  in  the  sa- 
lamnik. 

About  nine  or  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening  the  nup 
tial  knot  is  tied — the  Imaam,  or  priest,  placing  him 
self  in  a  short  passage  which  leads  between  two 
rooms,  respectively  occupied  by  the  bride  and  bride 
groom,  who  neither  see  each  other  or  the  priest  dur 
ing  the  ceremony.  That  functionary  now  asks  the 
bride  if  she  will  take  this  young  man  to  be  her  hus 
band,  whether  he  be  blind,  halt,  &c.  She  replies 
yes,  three  times. 

They  are  now  man  and  wife,  though  as  yet  they 
have  not  gazed  on  each  other's  features. 

After  this  ceremony  is  concluded  the  festivities  are 
resumed. 

In  the  mean  time  the  bride  is  escorted  by  her 
female  friends  to  the  bridal  chamber,  where  she  is 
seated  on  an  ottoman,  and  left  alone.  Shortly  after, 
the  bridegroom  makes  his  appearance.  Discovering 
that  his  wife  is  still  enveloped  in  her  veil,  he  requests 
her  to  throw  it  aside,  so  that  he  can  feast  his  eyes 
upon  her  beauty.  This  she  coquettishly  declines 
doing  until  he  has  become  very  earnest  in  his  persua- 


BRIDAL-CHAMBER.  169 

sions,  when  she  discloses  to  him  for  the  first  time  a 
view  of  her  face. 

After  much  persuasion  on  his  part,  and  affected  re 
luctance  on  hers,  he  at  length  succeeds  in  kissing  her 
and the  curtain  drops. 

In  the  morning  the  bride's  and  bridegroom's  rela 
tives  visit  the  bridal  chamber,  in  accordance  with  an 
antiquated  custom  mentioned  in  Deuteronomy. 


15 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

The  Eastern  War — Its  Cause — American  Sympathies — Actuating 
Motives  of  the  Three  Great  Powers — Our  Policy — Effects  of  the 
War  upon  Turkish  Manners  and  Customs. 

A  WORD  or  two  in  reference  to  the  Eastern  War 
before  we  close. 

The  whole  world  is  an  eager  spectator  of  that  ter 
rible  conflict  now  waging  between  Turkey  and  the 
Great  Colossus  of  the  North. 

The  cause  of  this  war  is  generally  known.  m  The 
Sultan  has  many  thousand  Greeks  in  his  dominions, 
over  whom,  as  Head  of  the  Orthodox  Faith,  the  Czar 
of  Russia  essayed  to  extend  his  Protectorate ;  making 
such  demands  as  would,  if  granted,  humiliate  the 
Sultan,  by  depriving  him  of  jurisdiction  over  a  por 
tion  of  his  own  subjects. 

These  demands  were  refused,  and  hence  the  out 
break  of  hostilities. 

For  months  Turkey  fought  single-handed  and  alone 
against  Russia ;  and  every  one  will  recollect  the 


AMERICAN    SYMPATHIES.  171 

gallant  manner  in  which  Omer  Pasha  and  his  soldiers 
conducted  themselves  in  the  Danubian  Provinces. 

Then,  owing  to  the  causes  of  the  war,  Russia 
evidently  being  in  the  wrong ;  to  the  fact  that  Turkey 
was  the  weaker  Power  ;  to  the  chivalrous  manner  in 
which  the  Turks,  under  Omer  Pasha,  fought  (they 
were  a  totally  different  set  from  those  cowardly  fel 
lows  in  the  Crimea ),  and  to  the  circumstance  that 
Turkey  had  sheltered  the  oppressed  Hungarians,  the 
sympathies  of  America  were  mostly  enlisted  in  her 
behalf. 

But  so  soon  as  England  and  France  became 
arrayed  against  Russia,  nominally  to  protect  Turkey 
against  the  aggressions  of  the  Czar,  nominally  as  the 
champions  of  the  weak  against  the  strong,  but  really 
for  their  own  self-agrandizement  and  to  maintain  the 
political  equilibrium  in  Europe,  the  sympathies  of  our 
countrymen  assumed  pretty  much  the  character  of 
those  felt  by  the  woman  who,  when  witnessing  a  des 
perate  struggle  between  her  husband  and  a  bear,  de 
clared  that  "  it  was  the  first  fight  she  ever  saw  that 
she  didn't  care  which  whipped." 

Neither  England  nor  France  care  a  picayune  for 
Turkey,  save  it  be  to  dismember  and  divide  her 
empire  between  them ;  and  as  Russia  is  animated 


172  OUR    POLICY. 

by  equally  amiable  and  disinterested  motives,  the  re 
sult  of  the  war,  so  far  as  these  three  great  Powers 
are  concerned,  cannot  be  a  matter  of  any  great 
moment  to  us  Republicans. 

As  a  Nation,  our  only  proper  and  politic  position 
in  the  matter  is  a  rigidly  neutral  one ;  and  we  should 
congratulate  ourselves  that  our  beloved  country  is  so 
far  removed  from  those  discordant  elements  which 
are  now  agitating  the  Old  World  to  its  very  base. 

Whether  Constantinople  will  pass  into  the  hands 
of  the  English  or  French,  or  whether  Alexander  II. 
will  be  triumphant,  we  are  unable  to  divine ;  but 
should  neither  of  these  events  transpire,  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  the  effect  of  the  war,  arising  from  the 
constant  intercommunication  existing  between  the 
Turks,  and  the  English  and  French  officers  and  sol 
diers,  and  the  powerfully  civilizing  influence  naturally 
originating  from  an  alliance  with  two  such  Powers 
as  England  and  France,  will  be,  a  gradual  but  per 
ceptible  change  in  those  distinctive  Oriental  features 
of  the  Turks  which  we  have  feebly  attempted  to 
portray. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

HOMEWARD    BOUND. 

Leave  Constantinople— Malta — Sicily — A  Gale  between  Scylla  and 
Charybdis — Pompeii — Rome — Its  Antiquities — Driven  into  Elba 
by  a  Storm — Florence — Genoa — Return  to  Paris — Our  Route — 
Home  Again — Conclusion. 

WE  bade  adieu  to  Constantinople  on  the  6th  of 
November,  1852,  and  in  six  days  arrived  at  Malta ; 
en  route  we  stopped  at  Smyrna  and  the  Greek 
island  of  Syra. 

Most  agreeable  were  the  ten  days  we  spent  on  the 
Island  of  Malta,  wandering  through  the  Botanic 
Garden  of  Floriana ;  exploring  the  Catacombs,  near 
Citta-Vecchia  and  the  Grotto  of  St.  Paul ;  ad 
miring  the  rich  mosaics  and  magnificent  sepulchral 
monuments  of  the  Church  of  St.  John,  the  patron  of 
the  Order  of  the  Knights  of  Malta ;  the  Palace  of 
the  Grand  Master,  which  contains  so  many  noble 
relics  of  that  illustrious  Order,  &c. 

15* 


174  SCYLLA    AND    CHARYBDIS. 

We  left  Malta  at  night,  and  the  next  morning  were 
among  the  antiquities  of  Syracuse  ;  the  same  day, 
threading  the  lava  streets  of  Catania,  and  gazing  on 
Etna  in  eruption. 

The  following  morning,  we  lay  in  the  lovely 
harbor  of  Messina ;  the  city,  backed  by  noble  hills, 
lying  amphitheatrically  around  us. 

Between  Scylla  and  Charybdis,  on  our  way  to 
Naples,  we  experienced  a  most  dreadful  gale.  The 
wind  appeared  to  blow  from  the  four  quarters  of 
heaven;  the  waters  were  lashed  into  a  fury;  the 
boat  tossed  and  lurched  terribly,  changing  our  ex 
pressions  of  admiration  in  regard  to  the'  charming 
scenery  along  the  Sicilian  coast,  into  imprecations 
against  the  sea,  and  reflections  upon  the  shipwrecks 
of  the  ancients  in  that  dangerous  pass. 

We  made  a  brief  sojourn  in  Naples ;  and  over  the 
spray-washed  road  of  Castelmard,  with  Vesuvius  in 
full  view  all  the  time,  we  drove  to  ancient  Pompeii ; 
whose  palaces,  forums,  baths,  and  public  squares, 
mosaics,  and  frescoes,  are  now,  after  having  undis 
turbedly  reposed  under  the  lava  and  ashes  of  the 
neighboring  volcano  for  eighteen  centuries,  being 
developed  by  the  pickaxe  and  the  spade. 

Two   days  in  our  carriage,  a  night  at  Mola   de 


ANTIQUITIES    OF    ROME.  175 

Graeta,   and    one    at   Terracina,    and    our   eyes   are 
feasting  upon  the  splendid  ruins  of  ancient  Rome, 
now   slumbering,   in   solemn    grandeur,    around   the 
modern  city. 

There  is  the  Coliseum,  which  still  stands  high  and 
bold,  despite  the  ravages  of  time,  and  its  having  been 
despoiled  of  sufficient  material  to  construct  two  or 
three  palaces ;  unfractured  columns  and  obelisks  of 
the  olden  time  still  stand  in  the  public  squares ;  the 
Roman  cardinals'  carriages  rattle  under  the  arches 
of  Constantine,  Titus,  and  of  Trajan,  now,  as  did  the 
heavy  chariots  in  the  days  of  the  Consuls,  when 
bearing  the  laurel-crowned  victors ;  still  stands  in 
a  modest  site,  the  little  temple  of  Vesta,  where,  in 
days  of  yore,  vigils  were  kept  over  the  sacred  flame ; 
and  the  Catholic  devotee  bows  down  to  images  of 
saints  and  holy  crucifixes  in  the  grand  old  Pantheon, 
the  best  preserved  of  all  the  antiquities  in  Rome. 

Let  us  stand  on  the  palace  of  the  Caesars,  itself  a 
mass  of  majestic  ruins,  overgrown  by  moss  and  ivy, 
and  gaze  upon  those  half-standing,  half-crumbling 
temples,  baths,  amphitheatres,  palaces,  &c.,  whose 
noble  relics  attest  their  former  splendor.  Near  us 
are  all  the  famous  structures  that  adorned  the  Capi- 
toline  Hill ;  far  over  the  Campagna  rises  mound  after 


176  ELBA  —  FLORENCE. 

mound,  all  the  sites  of  noble  piles  that  skirted  the 
Appian  Way.  And  we  can  also  trace  the  ancient 
wall  of  Rome,  and  broken  lines  of  Roman  aqueducts. 

But  St.  Peter's  has  been  visited ;  the  Pope  seen ; 
we  have  dwelt  in  rapture  upon  the  wondrous  produc 
tions  of  the  chisel  and  the  brush,  which  grace  the 
galleries  of  the  Eternal  City  ;  in  her  thronged  streets 
we  have  noticed  the  striking  contrast  between  regal 
state  and  ecclesiastical  domination  on  the  one  hand, 
and  abject  poverty  and  superstition  on  the  other;  and 
with  the  consolatory  thought  that  we  were  hurrying 
to  a  land  the  spirit  of  whose  institutions  and  govern 
ment  is  adverse  to  a  union  of  the  spiritual  and  tem 
poral,  we  bade  adieu  to  Rome,  and  in  a  day  or  two, 
northward  steering,  were  sailing  over  the  blue  waters 
of  the  Mediterranean. 

A  storm  at  night  gave  us  a  very  disagreeable  toss 
ing  ;  made  us  all  desperately  sea-sick ;  but  by  driving 
us  into  the  port  of  Elba,  afforded  us  the  unantici 
pated  pleasure  of  wandering  through  the  fortifications 
of  that  celebrated  isle. 

We  visited  Leghorn,  Pisa,  and  then  the  beautiful 
Florence.  Oh,  who  could  faithfully  portray  the 
beauty  of  the  Valley  of  the  Arno  ;  or  thee,  Florence, 
with  thy  Boboli  Gardens,  thy  Cascine,  Duomo,  Palazzo 


HOME    AGAIX.  177 

Vecchia,  thy  Pitti  Palace,  and  thy  rich  treasures  of 
old  paintings  and  statues  ? 

A  view  from  the  top  of  the  Leaning  Tower  of  Pisa ; 
a  brief  sojourn  in  Leghorn  ;  a  pleasant  little  sea-voy 
age  ;  and  we  were  traversing  the  gorgeous  palaces 
and  churches  of  Genoa. 

The  route  from  Marseilles  to  Lyons,  and  from 
thence  to  Paris  in  the  coupe  of  a  diligence,  was  rather 
tedious,  and  rejoiced  were  we  when  we  arrived  in  the 
French  metropolis :  where,  from  the  front  windows  of 
our  hotel,  we  could  look  right  out  upon  the  lovely 
garden  of  Les  Tuileries. 

We  had  been  in  Paris  before,  on  our  way  to  Con 
stantinople.  Our  route  was  from  Paris  to  Strasburg 
on  the  Rhine,  from  thence  to  Basle,  Lucerne,  and 
over  the  Alps  to  Milan,  Padua,  Verona,  Venice, 
Trieste,  &c. 

Homeward  bound,  we  wrent  to  Calais ;  recrossed 
the  English  Channel ;  and,  in  the  ill-fated  Arctic,  after 
a  boisterous  voyage  of  fifteen  days,  arrived  in  "  our 
own,  our  native  land." 

We  now  close,  by  again  intimating  that  the  reason 
why  we  have  purposely  avoided  giving  an  account  of 
our  travels  in  civilized  Europe,  is  attributable  to  the 
fact,  that  that  portion  of  the  world  is  written  and  re- 


178  CONCLUDING     REMARKS. 

written  upon  to  such  a  degree,  that  the  subject  is 
almost  exhausted,  and  is,  moreover,  less  interesting, 
because  not  so  novel,  as  the  matters  we  have  mainly 
devoted  our  remarks  to. 

Our  object  has  been  simply  to  give  the  reader  an 
idea  of  Oriental  Life ;  of  those  things  which  do  not 
come  under  the  observation  of  the  major  portion  of 
those  who  cross  the  ocean ;  and  if,  here  and  there, 
we  have  afforded  any  entertainment,  or  furnished  any 
new  items  of  information,  we  will  feel  more  than 
compensated  for  our  pains. 

There  are  many  other  Oriental  matters  which  we 
might  speak  of;  and  should  this  little  book  meet  with 
popular  favor,  we  will  be  encouraged  to  make  them 
the  subjects  of  a  larger  and  more  complete  volume. 


T  H  E     END. 


int    rv  n  m  o  n    c  m  r  i  n  c, 

ITS  HISTORY,  POLITICAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  CONDITION, 
MANNERS,  CUSTOMS,  ETC.,  ETC. 

By  Alfred  De  Besse, 

MEMBER   OF   THE   PRUSSIAN   EMBASSY   AT    CONSTANTINOPLE. 
Translated  and  Revised,  with  Additions,  from  the  4th  German  edition,  with  a  Memoir  of 

THE  SULTAN,  OMER  PACHA,  AND  OTHER  MEMBERS  OF  THE 
TURKISH  CABINET. 

BY  EDWARD  JOY  MORRIS, 

Late  U.  S.  Charge  d' Affaires  at  Naples,  author  of  "Travels  in  the  East,"  Ac.,  &o. 
AVii.1i  Portraits  of  the  Reigning  Sultan  and  Omer  Pacha* 

In  one  vol.  12mo.    Price,  bound  in  cloth,  75  cts. ;  in  paper  covers,  50  eta. 

"This  is  a  translation  from  a  celebrated  German  work  by  De  Besse,  and  is  full  of  valu 
able  information.  It  is  calculated  to  give  a  more  general  idea  of  the  religious,  political, 
and  social  condition,  as  well  as  the  physical  extent  and  resources  of  Turkey,  than  any 
publication  of  the  popular  order  that  has  yet  appeared  from  the  press.  It,  of  course,  pre 
sents  only  leading  facts  and  events,  but  all  are  so  grouped  and  arranged  as  to  afford  an 
excellent  idea  of  the  rise,  progress,  and  decline  of  the  Mussulman  power  and  faith." — 
Inquirer. 

"  No  book  that  we  are  acquainted  with  presents  in  the  same  space  so  much  information 
about  the  Ottoman  empire,  and  those  who  now  administer  its  affairs,  civil  and  military. 
It  has,  too,  the  advantage  of  being  strictly  impartial,  and  while  it  shows  no  inclination 
towards  the  power  that  is  now  menacing  the  Porte  with  destruction,  it  does  not  conceal 
the  signs  of  Turkish  decay,  nor  attempt  to  cover  up  the  evils  of  the  Turkish  civil  and 
religious  system." — Bulletin. 

"We  have  here,  in  small  space,  a  vast  amount  of  information  in  relation  to  a  country 
to  which  the  eyes  of  the  whole  civilized  world  are  turned  at  the  present  time.  It  contains 
all  that  is  worth  knowing  of  the  past  and  present  of  the  Ottoman  empire — that  empire 
which  was  once  the  terror  of  Christian  Europe." — Evening  Post. 

"  In  a  light,  neat,  and  exceedingly  well-written  volume,  it  presents  the  reader  with  a 
sketch  of  the  biography  of  the  leading  actors  in  the  present  quarrel  on  the  Turkish  side, 
a  condensed  outline  of  the  past  history  of  Turkey,  a  similar  view  of  the  political  and 
religious  condition,  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  people ;  a  glance  at  the  geography 
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AFRAJA;  or,  LIFE  AND  LOVE  IN  NORWAY. 

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thrilling  occurrence  related  passed  under  our  own  eye. — National  Intelligencer. 

There  is  an  originality,  simplicity  and  beauty  about  the  whole  which  will  attract  and  charm  every 
reader  of  taste,  and  make  it  a  most  welcome  addition  to  the  commonwealth  of  fiction.—  Traveller. 

This  work  is  destined  to  delight  many  readers.  There  is  a  dramatic  as  well  as  descriptive  power 
in  it  which  is  illustrated  in  every  page.  A  new  volume  in  human  nature  is  here  opened  to  us.— 
Bulletin. 

Afraja  is  destined  to  a  wide  and  enduring  popularity,  and  it  will  take  a  distinguished  place  among 
the  highest  order  of  classic  fictions.  The  variety  and  contrast  of  characters  invest  the  book  with  a 
new  charm.  The  cold,  self-sacrificing  Dda;  the  artless  child  of  nature,  Gula;  the  warm-hearted, 
passionate  Hannah,  have  their  counterparts  in  the  pure,  high-minded  Danish  Baron,  Marstrand,  the 
simple,  guileless  Bjornarne,  and  the  crafty,  vindictive  Petersen.  The  cunning,  avaricious  traders, 
Helgestad  and  Fandrem,  are  confronted  with  the  magnanimous  old  Lapland  chief  Afraja,  whose  mys 
terious  character  and  life,  reputed  wealth,  and  fame  as  a  necromancer,  keep  the  imagination  of  the 
reader  in  a  continued  stretch  of  excitement  to  the  last  page. — Inquirer. 


LINDSAY   &,  BLAKISTON'S  PUBLICATIONS, 


NEW   DICTIONARIES. 


WALKER'S  RHYMING  DICTIONARY: 

A  Rhyming,  Spelling,  and  Pronouncing  Dictionary  of  the  Eng 
lish  Language—in  which 

I.  The  whole  Language  is  arranged  according  to  its  terminations. 

II.  Every  Word  is  explained  and  divided  into  Syllables  exactly  as  pronounced. 

III.  Multitudes  of  Words  liable  to  a  double  pronunciation  are  fixed  in  their  true  sound  Dy  a  rhyme. 

IV.  Many  of  the  most  difficult  Words  are  rendered  easy  to  be  pronounced  by  being  classed  accord 
ing  to  their  endings. 

V.  Numerous  classes  of  Words  are  ascertained  in  their  pronunciation,  by  distinguishing  them  into 
perfect,  nearly  perfect,  and  allowable  Rhymes. 

To  which  is  prefixed  a  copious  introduction  to  the  various  uses  of  the  work,  with  critical  and  prac 
tical  observations  on  Orthography,  Syllabication,  Pronunciation,  and  Rhyme ;  and,  for  the  purpose  of 
Poetry,  is  added  an  Index  of  Allowable  Rhymes,  with  authorities  for  their  usage  from  our  best  Posts. 

BY    J.   WALKER. 

One  rol.  12mo.     Price  $1  25. 

Here  is  a  book  that  the  young  poet— and  the  old  one,  too,  perhaps— will  find  one  of  his  most  valua 
ble  assistants.  It  will  not  furnish  him  with  inspiration,  but  it  will  readily  furnish  him  with  rhymes, 
which  are  often  the  best  aids  in  the  flow  of  inspiration.  Many  a  sublime  thought  or  pretty  fancy  has 
been  irretrievably  lost  while  the  poet  was  scratching  his  head  for  a  word  with  the  proper  jingle. 
This  dictionary  removes  all  these  troubles,  since  it  furnishes  every  word  in  the  language  according  to 
its  termination.  In  all  this  there  is  no  child's  play,  for  such  a  work  has  its  value  and  its  dignity,  and 
its  value  is  above  the  mere  manufacture  of  couplets.  The  endorsement  of  Walker  to  the  system 
given  in  his  work  would  alone  raise  it  above  ridicule,  even  if  it  had  not  been  for  years  considered  a 
work  of  real  value  by  the  best  minds  in  England  and  this  country.  Walker's  system  of  orthography 
and  pronunciation  continues  to  be  the  standard  among  all  our  best  writers,  and  these  are  fully  de 
veloped  in  this  dictionary.  His  introduction  contains  an  invaluable  treatise  on  the  construction  of 
our  language.  The  work  is  very  well  printed  and  bound.— Bulletin. 

RAWSON'S  NEW  DICTIONARY  OF  SYNONYMES: 

A  Dictionary  of  the  Synonymical  Terms  of  the  English  Language. 

BY  THE  REV.  JAMES  RAWSON. 
A  neat  12mo.  Volume.     Price  63  cents. 

Of  the  various  books  of  English  Synonymes  that  have  been  published,  none  is  at  once  so  compact, 
comprehensive,  clear,  and  correct  as  this  one.  The  number  of  synonymical  terms  is  larger  than  any 
previous  work  contains,  and  there  is  nothing  superfluous— no  unnecessary  remarks,  which  are  more 
calculated  to  bewilder  than  to  inform.  It  will  make  an  admirable  desk  companion  for  the  man  of 
letters.— Evening  Bulletin. 

JOHNSON'S  POCKET  DICTIONARY. 

DIAMOND    EDITION. 

32mo.  Cloth, 38  cents. 

"      Embossed  gilt 50    " 

"      Tucks  gilt  edges 63    " 

This  edition  has  been  greatly  improved  by  the  addition  of  some  thousand  words  and  technical 
terms,  the  accentuation  corrected  according  to  the  most  approved  mode  of  pronunciation,  together 
with  a  concise  classical  mythology,  a  list  of  men  of  learning  and  genius,  phrases  from  various  lan- 
fuagei,  and  a  biographical  table  of  distinguished  deceased  Americans,  and  a  portrait  of  Dr.  Johnson 


• . 


107 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


*** 


N 


mz 


APR  2  -  196S 


JUL  1  4  1982 
gECCIR  JU 


07  199J 


871 
30 


LD  21-95m-ll,'50(2877sl6)476 


mm    :•-.  Mtsih'y  -^-  ^  :::'-":  -  •  :;     ""  -    •• 


